McLibel Two settle for police payout
Two green activists have been awarded £10,000 plus costs by the Metropolitan Police for alleged improper disclosure of confidential information about them to private investigators hired by McDonald's to infiltrate their organisation.
David Morris and Helen Steel, nicknamed the McLibel Two during their record-breaking three-year trial for dispensing leaflets critical of McDonald's practices, are also preparing a case for the European Court of Human Rights.
They want to prevent multinationals from using the courts to silence members of the public who criticise companies whose business practices affect people's lives, health and environment.
The Metropolitan Police last week announced an out-of-court settlement, without admitting liability, of the writ issued by the McLibel Two in September 1998.
Morris said that at least seven private investigators hired by McDonald's had infiltrated his organisation, Greenpeace (London). "It's clear that their [the police's] claim to be impartial defenders of the public is a hollow one," he commented. "This collusion reveals the political role of the police in ensuring that the wheels of big business keep turning."
He said that the case of the McLibel Two, and last week's trial of José Bové, founder of the French Peasant Confederation, was part of the same worldwide struggle against globalisation robbing local people of control over their communities, health and environment.
- Bové's trial in Millau, France, attracted 25,000 supporters, which effectively doubled the town's population.
Bové was accused of leading an attack on a half-built McDonald's restaurant in the town in protest against high US tariffs on European goods, following Europe's ban on hormone-injected beef from the USA.
The state prosecutor recommended a token 10-month jail sentence, with nine months suspended. A verdict is expected on 13 September.
by Angela Frewin
