THE MINISTRY of Defence is once more bracing itself for a barrage of bad publicity when a report into the deaths of four recruits at the notorious Deepcut barracks is published on Wednesday.

The inquiry, by leading human rights barrister Nicholas Blake QC, was set up to consider existing evidence surrounding the deaths - including that of Private Geoff Gray, from Seaham, County Durham.

It will be sent to Adam Ingram, the Minister for Armed Forces, who will consider the content and what, if anything, should be done.

Any hopes Mr Ingram and the MoD had that this would be an end to the matter appear to have been dashed.

According to weekend newspaper reports, the review, far from drawing a line under the Deepcut controversy, will contain new allegations of bullying and abuse at the base.

It comes just weeks after a jury returned an open verdict into the death of Private James Collinson, from Perth, Scotland, who was found dead at the base with a gunshot wound through the chin on March 23, 2002.

Mr Blake's report is sure to intensify public suspicion and generate more negative publicity for the Army.

Yet the MoD is sticking doggedly to its guns: there will be no public inquiry into what went on. This is wrong for a number of reasons not least for the damage allegations of bullying are doing to recruitment levels at a time when the British Army is at full stretch.

Much has been done since Deepcut to weed out the bullies and bigots. At the Army's Infantry Training Centre (ITC) in Catterick, officers are now working with parents to tackle the problem. This enlightened attitude has gained the ITC new respect and trust among anti-bullying campaigners.

Yet all this good work is going unnoticed because of a dogged determination not to hold a public inquiry into Deepcut. When will the MoD wake up to the fact that the only way restore confidence is for a public inquiry to be held as soon as possible?