Day 186 - 10 Nov 95 - Page 51
1 May I, first of all, say something about two meanings which
2 Ms. Steel proposed, as it were, in substitution for our
3 meaning F and our meaning H. As she dictated them, when
4 I wrote them down, and your Lordship will have a note --
5 I do not know whether this is intentional or not -- it is
6 difficult to see how they are anything more really than a
7 rewrite or a rewording of the literal words in the
8 leaflet. That said, they answer nothing really.
9
10 They ignore both context and the natural implication of
11 both passages concerned taken by themselves even out of
12 context. Take the first as an example. She dictated:
13 "McDonald's portray their food as a useful and nutritious
14 part of any diet, when the reality is that an average
15 McDonald's meal is high in fat, sugar, animal products and
16 so on". When one looks at the actual leaflet, one sees
17 that she has ignored the heading: "What's so unhealthy
18 about McDonald's food?" She has ignored the
19 words: "McDonald's try to show in their nutrition guide",
20 etcetera, "are a useful and nutritious part of any diet,
21 what they do not make clear".
22
23 Leaving aside all context, the natural and necessary, we
24 would say, implication of that very little passage on its
25 own is that McDonald's are deliberately concealing the true
26 nature in nutritional terms of the food that they sell to
27 their customers. They are doing it not simply by not
28 telling customers of its hazardous character, but by
29 actually making positive false statements about its
30 nutritional value.
31
32 My Lord, I say that without any reference to the context.
33 My Lord, can I deal with the question of deception?
34
35 MR. MORRIS: Can I ask where it says that, where it implies
36 that?
37
38 MR. RAMPTON: Mr. Morris, really, if he is going to
39 interrupt -----
40
41 MR. JUSTICE BELL: No, you cannot do that because we have to
42 follow the form. Mr. Rampton went first, then you and
43 Ms. Steel and now Mr. Rampton is replying.
44
45 MR. RAMPTON: I do not mind at all mind being interrupted,
46 subject to two conditions: First of all, Mr. Morris stands
47 up and makes an interjection in the proper manner and,
48 second, that he listens to what I say. I said the "natural
49 implication". I did not say "the literal words".
50 I complained about Miss Steel's meaning that it confines
51 itself to the literal words used though they are somewhat
52 rewritten in the leaflet. As we know from reading the
53 authorities in the House of Lords and below, it is not
54 permissible to ignore the natural implications of literal
55 words that are written in a document of this kind.
56
57 May I say a word about this general question of deception?
58 The Defendants, as I understand what they have said today,
59 contend that this passage merely says: "Well, McDonald's
60 nutritional information is factually inaccurate and no more
