The UK government said it was taking control of Chinese-owned British Steel on Saturday after rushing an emergency law through parliament to avert the shutdown of the country's last factory that can make steel from scratch. The Times newspaper said British Steel workers had seen off a "delegation of Chinese executives" trying to enter critical parts of the works. Jingye bought British Steel in 2020 and says it has invested more than £1.2 billion ($1.5 billion) to maintain operations but is losing around £700,000 a day. British Steel has said US President Donald Trump's recent tariffs on the sector were partly to blame for the Scunthorpe plant's difficulties. British Steel has its roots as far back as the Industrial Revolution but took shape in 1967 when the Labour government nationalised the industry, which at the time employed nearly 270,000 people.
