Day 276 - 09 Jul 96 - Page 34


     
     1             The next paragraph, "The group have suggested that
     2        McDonald's used spies to infiltrate the group.  It is
     3        important to note that their meetings were advertised as
     4        public meetings, and in order to establish precisely who
     5        was responsible for distributing the lies in the leaflet
     6        these meetings were indeed attended on McDonald's behalf."
     7        The way this is written, the first sentence tries to
     8        portray that, you know, literature that has been put out
     9        criticising McDonald's is -- you know, it is wrong of it to
    10        say that McDonald's used spies to infiltrate the group,
    11        whereas that is the reality, which eventually they are sort
    12        of forced to admit.  But the way it is put...
    13
    14             Not all the meetings were advertised as public
    15        meetings, only the Endsleigh Street meetings were
    16        advertised as public meetings and even those were not
    17        always advertised.  Any way, obviously, Mr. Preston said
    18        that it was not to infiltrate the group, but, as we have
    19        now seen from the instructions given to the company's
    20        inquiry agents, the word infiltrate was exactly the word
    21        that was used.
    22
    23             The next paragraph said, "These two individuals have
    24        chosen to defend the leaflet and, contrary to their claims
    25        that they are not actively involved, they have, for many
    26        years, taken leading roles in a consistent campaign against
    27        McDonald's, including responsibility for organising
    28        demonstrations and anti-McDonald's fayres."  Obviously,
    29        well, the first point to make is that what is being
    30        referred to here is the statement in the leaflets that just
    31        says simply that it is not McDonald's case that the two
    32        defendants wrote or printed the leaflet, merely that they
    33        distributed it.  And I think it said something about -- and
    34        in Mr. Morris's case, just that he was present at meetings
    35        where it was available.
    36
    37             Secondly, obviously, we do not have leading roles in a
    38        consistent campaign against McDonald's.  I mean, obviously,
    39        since the writs have been served we have both been
    40        determined not to be bullied into silence by McDonald's and
    41        so, you know, we have been put in a situation where we have
    42        spoken out against McDonald's and campaigned against
    43        McDonald's.  But, certainly, before the writs were served
    44        Mr. Morris had no involvement whatsoever in the
    45        anti-McDonald's campaign and I certainly did not have a
    46        leading role in it.  My only involvement was to take part
    47        in pickets which I did not organise, and, as you have
    48        already heard, neither of us were organisers of the
    49        anti-McDonald's fayres.
    50
    51             "The group have complained that McDonald's has
    52        withheld evidence, McDonald's has complied fully with all
    53        obligations to disclose documents."  Obviously, this is an
    54        area of argument, but to put it quite simply, there have
    55        been numerous documents that have been disclosed since the
    56        trial has started which were quite obviously in existence a
    57        long time ago and in the possession of the Plaintiffs, and
    58        documents that we had asked for at the time and they were
    59        not forthcoming until, you know, late into the trial.  For
    60        example, the whole bundle of nutrition documents that were

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