Day 172 - 12 Oct 95 - Page 28

     
     1
     2        There is a passage of a similar quality.  As I say, in the
     3        decision of this case, they matter not at all, these
     4        passages, but they do matter if they are to be used for
     5        publicity purposes.  Paragraph 10, in the middle, my Lord,
     6        about a third of the way down, he writes: "My belief was
     7        that the management did not want employees to be
     8        comfortable in the room."  Again, his belief really has no
     9        value at all.  If a member of the management had said to
    10        him, "It is our intention that you should be
    11        uncomfortable", that would be quite different.
    12
    13   MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes
    14
    15   MR. RAMPTON:  Then a problem of slightly different kind, on
    16        page 8, paragraph 15, the third sentence.  This is about
    17        what he calls budget ratios.  In the third sentence of
    18        paragraph 15, he says: "I knew that staff costs were not
    19        allowed to exceed 15% of turnover.  I cannot remember from
    20        whom I first heard this, but it was definitely someone in
         management."  So far so good, one might think.  But then if
    22        one turns to the third page of the supplementary statement
    23         -----
    24
    25   MR. JUSTICE BELL: I just want to note something earlier. (Pause)
    26        Yes.
    27
    28   MR. RAMPTON:  My Lord, that, on its face, lacks a certain
    29        conviction, because it has not any names or dates or
    30        anything like that on it.  It is exposed for what it truly
    31        is if one turns to page 3 of the supplementary statement
    32        under the heading "Target Figures (47)".  What has plainly
    33        happened is that some legal person or some such person has
    34        asked him: "Well now, what Manager told you that", and one
    35        looks at "target figures" and one sees what he is reduced
    36        to: "It was common knowledge that this target figure was
    37        15% so I am not able to give any more details than that."
    38        Your Lordship may say at the end of this argument, well,
    39        leave those two pieces in as they are, because of course
    40        they look as if they are inconsistent and that
         destroys -----
    42
    43   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  At the moment, it looks to me, if he said it
    44        was definitely someone from management, at the moment my
    45        inclination is to leave 15 in, but not the target knowledge
    46        just being common knowledge, because I cannot see what
    47        basis -----
    48
    49   MR. RAMPTON:  Common knowledge is in this context of -----
    50 
    51   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  But, again, the end result Mr. Morris and 
    52        Ms. Steel may feel is achieved -- whether I accept it or 
    53        not I will have to see -- if 15 stays in.  But there we
    54        are.
    55
    56   MR. RAMPTON:  My argument about this is -- I cannot be
    57        absolutely certain about it, obviously, because I have not
    58        got the intervening stage -- but my argument about it is
    59        that it is clear that someone has asked him what he meant
    60        when he talked about 15 per cent, and when he is put to the