The Raw Chef Blog

What’s wrong with McDonald’s?

That was the title of a leaflet handed out by Helen Steel and Dave Morris that saw them representing themselves against McDonald’s £10 000 000 legal team in the longest ever English trial to date…

McLibel is a documentary that follows this incredible story from start to finish and I had the pleasure of watching it last night.

Denied Legal Aid, the odds were stacked against them right from the start, but as Helen said, “We had the truth on our side.”

From the DVD sleeve…

McLibel is the story of two ordinary people who humiliated McDonald’s in the biggest corporate PR disaster in history.

McDonald’s loved using the UK libel laws to suppress criticism. Major media organisations like the BBC and The Guardian crumbled and apologised. But then they sued gardener Helen Steel and postman Dave Morris.

In the longest trial in English legal history, the “McLibel Two” represented themselves against McDonald’s £10 million legal team. Every aspect of the corporation’s business was cross-examined: from junk food and McJobs, to animal cruelty, environmental damage and advertising to children.

Outside the courtroom, Dave brought up his young son alone and Helen supported herself working nights in a bar. McDonald’s tried every trick in the book against them. Legal manoeuvres. A visit from Ronald McDonald. Top executives flying to London for secret settlement negotiations. Even spies.

Seven years later, in February 2005, the marathon legal battle finally concluded at the European Court of Human Rights. And the result took everyone by surprise - especially the British Government.

McLibel is not just about hamburgers. It is about the importance of freedom of speech now that multinational corporations are more powerful than countries.

Filmed over ten years by no-budget Director Franny Armstrong, McLibel is the David and Goliath story of two people who refused to say sorry. And in doing so, changed the world.

What struck me about this film, and Dave and Helen in particular, was their total belief in what they were doing. They really saw themselves as fighting the case for the ‘ordinary’ people of the world, so they would have the right to free speech in the future. Where would we be without people like this?

So often we feel like we’re in the minority, we feel helpless, futile, like there’s no point saying anything when we’re told to step into line. Towards the end of the film Dave reminds us that it’s the multinational companies wanting control that are in the minority - there’s billions of us - if we just speak up together we will most certainly be heard.

Watch this film if you get the chance. As Channel 4 said, it’s, “More rousing than anything Hollywood could come up with”

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