 MIKE McCARTNEY last night said he would be "fully supportive" of his brother after it was confirmed that Sir Paul and his wife Heather Mills are to separate after four years of marriage. In a joint statement, the couple said they had "with sadness" agreed to split after finding it "increasingly difficult" to maintain a normal relationship in the glare of the public eye. Sir Paul and Mills, a former model, married in June 2002. They had a daughter, Beatrice, a year later. The statement said: "Having tried exceptionally hard to make our relationship work given the daily pressures surrounding us, it is with sadness that we have decided to go our separate ways. "Our parting is amicable and both of us still care about each other very much but have found it increasingly difficult to maintain a normal relationship with constant intrusion into our private lives, and we have actively tried to protect the privacy of our child.'' They also said they would find the split "immensely stressful". "Separation for any couple is difficult enough, but to have to go through this so publicly, especially with a small daughter is immensely stressful. "We hope, for the sake of our baby daughter, that we will be given some space and time to get through this difficult period." Sir Paul put a separate statement on his personal website, criticising the media's coverage of the breakup. "It's been suggested that she [Mills] married me for the money and there is not an ounce of truth in this," he wrote. "I'm very sad to see that some insensitive people would choose a moment like this to spread these vicious rumours."
 Speaking from his home in Heswall, Wirral, yesterday, Mike McCartney, 62, said: "I naturally support him as he's my one and only brother." Referring to his own ordeal earlier this year, in which he was cleared of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old waitress at a family party, Mr McCartney said: "I will be fully supportive of him, just like he was supportive of me." The ex-Beatle's marriage to the charity campaigner and former model has been under strain in recent weeks. | 
