What does the British Steel crisis reveal about the UK’s critical infrastructure? Jasper Jolly reports

On Saturday, when MPs were supposed to be on their Easter holidays, a rare emergency sitting was called. Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, told the House of Commons that they were meeting “in exceptional circumstances to take exceptional action in what are exceptional times”.

MPs passed a bill to save the Scunthorpe steelworks, a vital part of the UK’s critical infrastructure and the last remaining maker of mass-produced virgin steel. The emergency legislation allowed the government to instruct the Chinese owners of the British Steel plant, Jingye, to keep Scunthorpe open or face criminal penalties.