IF ever there was a time for a public inquiry into allegations of Army bullying it is now.

Video footage filmed by a soldier at the Army's School of Infantry, in Catterick, North Yorkshire, shows scenes of bullying of recruits who were hooded and forced to assume humiliating poses - echoes of pictures of the abuse in Iraqi prison camps.

If this film is genuine, it raises some very serious concerns about the treatment of recruits and, naturally, several organisations - including Amnesty International - have called for a full investigation.

But we are certain that any analysis of the Army by the Army behind closed doors will not be enough.

The examination must be thorough and impartial. Nothing less than a public inquiry will do.

And if these revelations are true, it will strengthen demands for urgent reform and the setting up of an independent military complaints commission - a suggestion the Ministry of Defence threw out earlier this year.

The footage is the latest in an alarmingly long line of allegations of bullying and suspicious deaths at both Catterick and Deepcut barracks.

In December last year the Commons Defence Select Committee heard that there had been 19 deaths at Catterick in the previous six years.

The public inquiry call will be welcomed by Geoff Gray, of Seaham, County Durham, whose son, Geoff, died at Deepcut.

And we agree with Mr Gray that we will never get the best army in the world by bullying our recruits.