Sir Keir Starmer has paid tribute to his brother Nick, who died on Boxing Day aged 60 after suffering from cancer.

The prime minister described his brother as a “wonderful man”, saying in a statement: “He met all the challenges life threw at him with courage and good humour. We will miss him very much.

“I would like to thank all those who treated and took care of Nick. Their skill and compassion is very much appreciated.”

A spokesperson for Sir Keir added in a statement: “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Nick Starmer.

“Nick, 60, died peacefully on the afternoon of December 26 after battling cancer. We ask for privacy for Nick’s wider family at this time.”

The prime minister had been due to go on holiday with his family on Friday, but it is understood he will now stay at home.

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch sent her condolences to Sir Keir and his family, adding: “This is such awful news. Particularly devastating at Christmastime.”

‘Nick was dealt a different set of cards’

Nick Starmer suffered complications during birth. He left school without any formal qualifications and suffered serious health problems during his life, which meant he could not hold down a long term job.

He was very unwell in 2022, and suffered complications during major surgery, which required life-saving care, according to a biography of the prime minister authored by former journalist Tom Baldwin.

Sir Keir broke away from the local elections campaign to visit him multiple times in hospital, with staff letting him use a back gate to avoid the media.

He later thanked some of the medical team who saved his brother’s life, telling them at a meeting of the Pancreatic Society: “I hope you know what it means to me and my family.”

Sir Keir is the middle child of four siblings. He spoke for the first time last year about his relationship with his brother in Tom Baldwin’s biography, saying: “Nick was dealt a different set of cards to me – problems I’ve never had to face.”

He spoke of how he got into fights to protect Nick when he was called “thick” or “stupid” by other children, and said: “Even now I try to avoid using words like that to describe anyone.”

Sir Keir also recalled how Nick’s school categorised him as “remedial”, saying: “They had no expectation of him or anything, and I’m not sure he even sat exams, so he had nothing to show for coming out of education.”

But he also said that their parents treated them exactly the same, with his father telling him: “Nick has achieved as much as you, Keir.”

Children with special educational needs are being “segregated” and left to struggle in the wrong schools because councils are trying to “save on costs”, parents have told Sky News. 

Maire Leigh Wilson, whose four-year-old son has Down syndrome, says she “shudders to think” where he would be now had she not been in a “constant battle” with her council.

“I think he would probably just be at the back of a classroom, running around with no support and no ability to sign or communicate,” she said.

Mrs Leigh Wilson wanted her son Aidan to go to a mainstream school with additional specialist support, but her council, who decide what is known as a child’s Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP), wanted him to attend a special school.

The number of EHCPs being appealed by parents has risen “massively”, according to education barrister Alice De Coverley.

She said councils are struggling to meet the volume of demand with “stretched budgets”, and parents are also more aware of their ability to appeal.

Mrs De Coverley said more than 90% of tribunals are won by parents, in part because councils do not have the resources to fight their cases.

She said, in her experience, parents of children with special educational needs will put “anything on the line, their homes, their jobs”.

On whether she thinks the system is rigged against parents, Mrs De Coverley said: “I’m not sure it’s meant to be. But I think that parents are certainly finding it very tough.”

She added the number of “unlawful decisions” being made by local authorities means parents who can afford it are being “utterly burnt out” by legal challenges.

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Mrs Leigh Wilson’s case was resolved before making it to court.

Her council, Hounslow in southwest London, said they complete more than four in five new EHCPs within the statutory 20-week timescale, twice the national average.

Hounslow Council said they “put families at the heart of decision-making” and young people in the area with special educational needs and disabilities achieve, on average, above their peers nationally.

They admitted there are areas of their offer “that need to be further improved” and they are “working closely with families as a partnership”.

“We have a clear and credible plan to achieve this, and we can see over the last 18 months where we have focused our improvement work, the real benefits of an improved experience for children, young people, and their families,” a Hounslow Council spokesman said.

He added the council had seen the number of EHCPs double in the last decade and they “share parents’ frustrations amid rising levels of national demand, and what’s widely acknowledged as a broken SEND system”.

Emma Dunville, a friend of Mrs Leigh Wilson whose son also has Down’s syndrome, describes her experience trying to get the right education provision for her child as “exhausting mentally and physically”.

She said: “For the rest of his life we’ll be battling, battling, battling, everything is stacked up against you.”

Unlike Mrs Leigh Wilson, Mrs Dunville wanted her son Albie to go to a special school, but she had to wait more than a year for an assessment with an education psychologist to contribute to the council’s decision, which meant she missed the deadline for an EHCP.

“The people making these decisions just don’t see that all children with Down’s syndrome are totally different and can’t be seen as the same.”

The guidelines are that if there are not enough local authority-employed education psychologists they should seek a private assessment, but her local authority did not do that.

Mrs Dunville said her son has been “segregated” in a mainstream school, where they are “trying their best” but “it’s just not the right setting”.