A handout photograph released by the UK Parliament shows Britain's Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Secretary Jonathan Reynolds (4th L), Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer (5th L) and Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves (R) reacting during a special Saturday session as the government seeks to pass emergency legislation to save the British Steel company from closing dowing, in the House of Commons, in London, on April 12, 2025. UK lawmakers opened a rare Saturday session as the government seeks to pass emergency legislation to stop the last British factory that can make steel from scratch from shutting down. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said his administration plans to "take control" of the struggling Chinese-owned British Steel plant to prevent its blast furnaces going out. [Photo/Agencies]
LONDON -- The British Parliament Saturday passed an emergency law granting the government sweeping powers to take control of British Steel, the last in Britain capable of producing steel from iron ore.
The Scunthorpe facility supplies the vast majority of the country's rail tracks. The legislation was introduced in response to British Steel's plan to shut down its blast furnaces at Scunthorpe, citing unsustainable financial losses.
In an extraordinary Saturday sitting, the first in over four decades, both Houses of Parliament returned from Easter recess to fast-track the Steel Industry (Special Measures) Act, which received royal assent the same day.
The new law empowers the Business Secretary to intervene directly in steel operations, order the procurement of raw materials, mandate the payment of workers, and even seize assets "using force if necessary."
