Re­tired po­lice of­fi­cer Arthur Bar­ring­ton has been ap­point­ed the new head of the Strate­gic Ser­vices Agency (SSA).

The ap­point­ment, an­nounced yes­ter­day by Prime Min­is­ter Stu­art Young, is ef­fec­tive April 1. At the post-Cab­i­net meet­ing at White­hall, Young called Bar­ring­ton “a very ap­pro­pri­ate di­rec­tor.”

“This im­me­di­ate­ly would pro­vide a lev­el of sta­bil­i­ty that is need­ed go­ing for­ward af­ter what has tak­en place at the SSA. Mr Bar­ring­ton has a wealth of ex­pe­ri­ence, not on­ly on the polic­ing side, but as a for­mer head of Spe­cial Branch and In­tel­li­gence, un­der­stands op­er­a­tions, etc, so I be­lieve, and the Cab­i­net be­lieves, he will be a very ap­pro­pri­ate di­rec­tor.”