I’ve recently learned that a Kate Smith is about to become Director of the Americas Department at the FCO. Would this by any chance be the same Kate Smith who moved from the FCO to Shell in 2008 as head of UK government relations? Is there any word of that Kate Smith (for it must surely be she?) taking a sideways move back to the FCO? This kind of revolving door move from diplomatic service to Shell and back surely, if that is the case, deserves some comment?
3 May 2012
By John Donovan
Printed below is an email I sent to Mr Michiel Brandjes on 1 May, which I also copied to Kate Smith, Shell UK Head of UK Government Relations. Mr Brandjes is Company Secretary & General Counsel Corporate of Royal Dutch Shell Plc.
There has been no response thus far. Any response received will be added to this article.
Reminds me of a revolving door controversy in America also involving Shell.
As US Interior Secretary, Gale Norton was responsible for the 2006 decision to award valuable oil shale leases in Colorado to a Royal Dutch Shell subsidiary. Months later she became General Counsel of Shell Oil. We were approached and supplied Shell internal documents to a U.S. government agency investigating related allegations of corruption, of which Norton was eventually cleared.
EBOOK TITLE: “SIR HENRI DETERDING AND THE NAZI HISTORY OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON
EBOOK TITLE: “JOHN DONOVAN, SHELL’S NIGHTMARE: MY EPIC FEUD WITH THE UNSCRUPULOUS OIL GIANT ROYAL DUTCH SHELL” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.
EBOOK TITLE: “TOXIC FACTS ABOUT SHELL REMOVED FROM WIKIPEDIA: HOW SHELL BECAME THE MOST HATED BRAND IN THE WORLD” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.
