MINISTERS and the Ministry of Defence are in denial, but there is a crisis in public confidence in the care and training given to young recruits.

The death from gunshot wounds of four young soldiers at the Deepcut Barracks and a growing list of accusations of bullying, assaults and abuse continue to cast a grim shadow over our armed services.

Yesterday's response from Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram to the latest allegations was pitiful and negligent.

The longer he fails to face up to the seriousness of the situation, the deeper the crisis of confidence will become.

His announcement of yet another review of bullying allegations at Deepcut will not suffice.

The justified clamour for a judicial public inquiry into the Deepcut deaths and a wider examination of training procedures can surely be ignored no longer.

Without a conclusive and independent inquiry this whole issue can never be put to rest. Until it is there will be a growing and understandable reluctance by parents to place their sons and daughters into the care of the armed forces.

The reluctance by ministers and the MoD to recognise the need for such an inquiry points to a possible cover-up.

Just this week we have seen that when the political reputation of a senior Cabinet minister is called into question, the machinery of government can summon the ability to arrange a swift and thorough inquiry to assert his innocence or vindicate his actions.

It is regrettable that the same urgency cannot be found to assert how four young soldiers came to their death while training in readiness to serve their Queen and their country.