McLibel 2 Respond to False Starmer Allegation

On 18th April 2023 the ‘McLibel 2’ issued a statement (see below) correcting an unsubstantiated and, they believe, entirely false rumour/fantasy.

It had been published online that Keir Starmer – who gave his time for free providing legal advice in their mammoth libel battle with McDonald’s – collaborated with undercover spycop John Dines in the early 1990s.

After extensive correspondence with the publisher, Skwawkbox, the correction was finally published a week later.

Unfortunately the original article has not been amended or withdrawn. Hence we are also publishing the correction here for the record.

THE CORRECTION

We speak as the defendants in the 1990-2005 McLibel case, in which we successfully defended the public’s right to criticise the junk food multinational, McDonald’s.

We were very surprised to read a story you published on 17th April 2023 entitled “Exclusive: Starmer ‘used undercover spycop as driver/gofer during McLibel case’”

The story, based on unattributed sources (which we would have quickly corrected if we had been contacted before the article was published), alleged that Keir Starmer used an undercover spycop ‘as his driver and bag carrier’ during the case.

The facts are these: At our request, Keir Starmer (a socialist lawyer at the time) had volunteered to advise us for free behind the scenes as we had been denied legal aid. He was very helpful in his spare time, however we represented ourselves throughout the 26 pre-trial hearings and in what became the longest trial in English legal history (313 days). All the paperwork was held by us, and Keir didn’t have the need for a driver on the limited number of occasions he attended hearings as he worked nearby as a barrister.

It is true that a police undercover spy, John ‘Barker’/ Dines, had scandalously infiltrated the McLibel Support Campaign and shockingly engineered a fraudulent two year intimate relationship with Helen in which they lived together.

That scandal has been well documented, particularly in the book ‘Deep Deception‘ by Helen and others. Further details are likely to emerge during the Undercover Policing Inquiry when it resumes next year.

But the claim that Keir Starmer used Dines / Barker as his driver for the trial appears to be based on a mistaken retelling of Helen’s reports that Dines drove her home after legal meetings with Starmer, in all likelihood to obtain intelligence of what was discussed at those meetings and in breach of legal privilege.

It is of course reasonable to challenge and expose the actions of those who hold or seek power, including Keir Starmer, and it is also critically important people are made aware of the extent of the disgusting and harmful secret infiltration by Met Police spycops of over
1,000 mainly left-wing and progressive campaigning groups over a 50 year period.

However, circulating untruths about this, be they rumours or deliberate smears, is unhelpful and distracting and does nothing to build trust or confidence in those reporting or reading the untruths.

– Helen Steel and Dave Morris, The ‘McLibel 2’

18 April 2023

The full 81 minute 2005 documentary about the McLibel case is free to watch on YouTube.