Day 292 - 01 Nov 96 - Page 31
1 once for pollution incidents.
2
3 So to some extent, we don't know how far, the Tidy Britain
4 Group was dependent on funding from the very organisations
5 that were contributing to pollution problems and environment/index.html">litter
6 problems. We cannot speculate on the motives of Coca-Cola
7 and Shell for sponsoring Tidy Britain Group, but we can
8 speculate on McDonald's motives through an analysis of the
9 evidence. I wish I could find that quote actually, about
10 wanting to be seen to be part of the solution rather than
11 part of the problem.
12
13 MR. JUSTICE BELL: You mentioned that before. That is just
14 typical of something which could go on a list of things and
15 be given to me in due course. If you do give me a list,
16 just give me a little key so it jogs my memory as to what
17 it came in on. Not so much this, but any other matters you
18 do. Can you just put this down: 34.16. It is my own
19 notebook reference. I would have had even more notebooks
20 than 34 if it had not been that I was relying on CaseView
21 for the first several weeks of this trial. Carry on.
22
23 MR. MORRIS: Sorry, I don't actually understand 34.16.
24
25 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It is page 16 of notebook 34.
26
27 MR. MORRIS: Right, and that quote relates to that?
28
29 MR. JUSTICE BELL: That is your being seen as helpful, helping
30 rather than hindering.
31
32 MR. MORRIS: Right.
33
34 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes.
35
36 MR. MORRIS: It does puzzle me, that one. I seem to remember
37 it was an internal McDonald's document.
38
39 Professor Ashworth admitted, or told the court, that the
40 Tidy Britain Group had changed its name from the Keep
41 Britain Tidy Group after, quote, it had been apparent,
42 unquote, in the late 1970s and early 1980s that Britain was
43 no longer tidy. It was, he said, quote, strange to have an
44 organisation talking about keeping a situation that did not
45 exist, unquote.
46
47 He also accepted, or admitted, that, quote, the rise of the
48 fast food business, unquote, was, quote, certainly a
49 factor, unquote, in that process. And of course we note
50 that McDonald's was launched in the mid 1970s in this
51 country. He said that it was part of a great increase in
52 packaging in general.
53
54 We would say McDonald's bears a collective responsibility
55 with the rest of the fast food take-out sector, on top of
56 their specific responsibility, and we have to recognise
57 McDonald's position as a pioneering company who others
58 would aim to follow who would want to make similar levels
59 of profits and have a similar amount of influence. And
60 McDonald's knows that. And there are any number of levels
