vowed to protect my brother above all else

Keir Starmer tells Pete Wicks about grief & privacy in power

- Keir Starmer

KEIR Starmer has revealed his grief over his younger brother Nick's death and how he was at his side as he heard he had terminal cancer.

In an emotional interview with reality TV's Pete Wicks, he said Nick was "very vulnerable" and he could not let him be alone to learn he had lung cancer.

Mr Starmer, 63, said "I didn't know how Nick would react. So I insisted on going to the hospital with him and watched his face as he was told that he had terminal cancer.

"I then went home with him to talk through what that meant, to make sure he properly understood what the implications were going to be in terms of how it would impact the rest of his life." Nick, who had learning disabilities after complications at birth, died 18 months later, aged 60.

The PM said in the podcast interview, during Men's Mental Health Month, that he had been secretly visiting his brother in a Leeds hospital for many weeks.

He said: "The hospital really kindly got me up through back chutes and lifts and staircases into intensive care, where I sort of popped out of an odd door and spent time with my brother.