April 12 (UPI) — The U.K. Parliament authorized the government to seize control of the Chinese-owned British Steel plant in Scunthorpe to prevent its closure and the loss of up to 2,700 jobs.
Members of Parliament approved a government takeover of the steel plant that is owned by Chinese firm Jingye during an emergency session Saturday morning to stop its owners from shutting down two blast furnaces and ending steel production in the United Kingdom, the BBC reported.
The British government and Jingye officials had been negotiating to keep the steel plant open, but those talks broke down, which triggered Saturday’s emergency session of Parliament.
King Charles granted royal assent for the government takeover, and steel workers stopped a group of Chinese executives from accessing” critical parts” of the steelworks Saturday morning, The Times reported.
The emergency law was introduced, passed and given assent in one day and authorizes U.K. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds to take control of British Steel and any other steel asset and order materials to keep producing steel while continuing to pay steelworkers and support staff.
The emergency law also allows for the arrest and imprisonment for up to two years of anyone who violates it.
Saturday’s emergency session was only the sixth for the U.K. Parliament since the end of World War II, The Guardian reported.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer and several cabinet ministers on Friday morning agreed special powers were needed to keep the steel plant open and called on Parliament to convene on Saturday.
U.K. government officials had negotiated with Jingye representatives since July to keep the steel plant open.
The government’s negotiators offered to buy raw materials for the British Steel blast furnaces, but Jingye’s negotiators demanded an “excessive amount” from the government, according to The Guardian.
King Charles granted his assent after the emergency session ended, and Starmer traveled to the steel plant to address its workers.
“You are the people who have kept this going,” Starmer told them. “You and your colleagues for years have been the backbone of British Steel.”
The plant is the last primary maker of virgin steel in the United Kingdom.
Reynolds said Jingye planned to “refuse to purchase the necessary raw material” for the blast furnaces and cancel and refuse to refund payments for existing orders.