BATLEY and Spen MP Tracy Brabin has launched a petition calling for "meaningful support" for areas plunged into Tier 3 restrictions. 

She accused the Conservative government of "treating the North with contempt" and said: "We must act to control the virus, but people should not be plunged into poverty and businesses forced to close or continue severely restricted without support from government.

"The Government can’t refuse a national lockdown to save money but abandon our Yorkshire communities."

Ms Brabin said there should be no Tier 3 in West Yorkshire "without support for jobs, families, businesses and the wellbeing of our region".

She said: "Meaningful restrictions must be matched by meaningful support.

"We must defend jobs, workers, wellbeing and the future of the West Yorkshire economy."