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."