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New security appointments (1)

01 January 1991

New security appointments
artdoc December=1991

At the beginning of October the government announced the
appointment of three new members of the Security Commission: Sir
John Blelloch, KCB, Lord Lieutenant, Sir Derek Boorman, KCB and
Sir Christopher Curwen, KCMG. The Security Commission was
established in 1964 to investigate breaches of security and
unauthorised leaks of information and to recommend any changes
in procedure. There are seven members of the Security Commission
from which three or four are usually chosen to form a panel to
investigate a particular breach of security.
Sir John Blelloch retired as Permanent Under Secretary of State
at the Northern Ireland Office in 1990. Sir Derek Boorman was
Chief of Intelligence at the Ministry of Defence 1985-8. Sir
Christopher Curwen is listed as having `recently retired as a
Deputy Secretary in the Cabinet Office'. In fact Sir Christopher
was the Security and Intelligence Co-ordinator in the Cabinet
Office. His successor in this post is Gerald Warner, a former
Foreign Office official and member of the Police Complaints
Authority.
Whitehall does not officially acknowledge the name of the
Security and Intelligence Co-ordinator or identify the names of
the heads of MI5 or MI6. The Director General of MI5 is Patrick
Walker and the Chief of MI6 (the overseas intelligence agency)
is Sir Colin McColl.
Downing Street press release 1.10.91; Guardian, 2.10.91.