Kershaw's mum talks to the Mail

We wonder if, when Andy Kershaw's mum, Eileen, spoke to the Daily Mail she knew that her motherly concern would be embedded in such a spitefully worded piece as turned up in the paper.

Eileen talks like a worried mother:

"He desperately needs help and his mental state is now affecting his physical state."

"He has lost a shocking amount of weight and looks skeletal. He is a wreck and very disturbed. I am afraid of what he might do, especially if people give up on him.

"He simply will not accept the relationship with Juliette is over and is suffering from a broken heart.

"I never believed such a thing existed before - but that is exactly what has happened."

The Mail, however, sees the story more as a parable about pride coming before a fall - presumably Kershaw's politics making him ripe for a kicking, even when he's on the ground already:

Like so many who turn their backs on the big city, Andy Kershaw couldn't quite hide that hint of smugness whenever he spoke of his new life on the Isle of Man.

[...]
Today, the evocative picture he painted of Peel as a haven of open-door, crime-free, yob-free family life has been well and truly shattered. And it's largely his fault.

It's a desperately sad story; it's even sadder that the Mail felt unable to tell it without introducing an element of crowing.