Day 288 - 28 Oct 96 - Page 20


     
     1        in their natural behaviour, it is entirely manipulated
     2        throughout by the food industry from birth until death.
     3        And that is a general charge.  (Pause).
     4
     5   MR. JUSTICE BELL:   Do you want to reserve your position at the
     6        moment on comment?  You have say something about it sooner
     7        or later.  I mean, I have to say at the moment -- I will
     8        keep an open mind, obviously, because you are only
     9        beginning to address me on this area of the matter -- it
    10        looks to me as if, whatever may be said about other parts
    11        of the leaflet, the statements here expressed or imputed,
    12        or inferential, use whatever word you like, are statements
    13        of fact.  I have a difficulty with an imputed comment,
    14        anyway, as a matter of philosophical argument.  I suppose
    15        you could have imputed comments, but it is far easier to
    16        see express comments.  We say all this amounts to torture,
    17        or something like that, having set out all the nasty things
    18        which happened to the animals.
    19
    20        But I do not think it actually probably does you any harm
    21        at the end of the day because you can bring in, if the
    22        general sting is a statement of fact, in all the other
    23        matters you complain of, apart from those which expressly
    24        refer to -- I have your point about artificial conditions,
    25        and you might say huge factory farms as well might bring in
    26        things too.  Whereas if it were just a comment, then,
    27        subject to any legal argument you bring forward, on what
    28        I have read at the moment, it seems to me that you have got
    29        to justify...  I am sorry, I made the same mistake I made
    30        the other day - you have to be able to defend each of the
    31        specific matters upon which it is related and if you fall
    32        down on one of them then in law, as well as in common
    33        sense, it may be said that that is not a fair comment,
    34        which is a problem you do not have to worry about if they
    35        are all statements of fact, including the general statement
    36        of fact.
    37
    38   MS. STEEL:   I do not think that is right, is it?   I thought
    39        that that rule of common law about if you fall down on one
    40        you fall down on the whole lot had been superceded and as
    41        long as there was enough in there to provide the general
    42        sting then you succeed.
    43
    44   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  If there are mixed statements of fact and
    45        comment, yes, because I suppose that is section 6.
    46
    47   MR. RAMPTON:   My Lord, in section 6 it depends on the relative
    48        weight of the statements of fact.  You could succeed on one
    49        of ten facts if it is strong enough.
    50 
    51   MR JUSTICE BELL:   Well, I mean the most obvious one is that if, 
    52        for instance, you succeeded in proving that McDonald's 
    53        animals frequently had their throats cut while they were
    54        still fully conscious -----
    55
    56   MR. RAMPTON:   Exactly.
    57
    58   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Then even though you failed on the other
    59        ones, that might make any general statement which was a
    60        comment a fair one.  But there we are.  In a sense you do

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