The leader of the firefighters union accused the government of thwarting any possibility of a negotiated deal.
Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott announced in the House of Commons that he would introduce legislation to give the government power to dictate firefighters' pay and working conditions.
``These powers will hopefully bring a new and much-needed sense of reality into future negotiations,'' Prescott said.
He added that it would take a few weeks to enact the needed legislation and that he hoped a negotiated settlement could be achieved.
Tuesday's strike was the fourth in three months by the union, which had sought a 40 percent pay raise for Britain's 55,000 firefighters.
Some 19,000 members of the armed forces and more than 800 aging Green Goddess military fire engines will be on standby during the strike to answer emergencies.
The last walkout on Jan. 22 _ for 24 hours _ came just days after the government announced 35,000 troops were being sent to the Persian Gulf to prepare for a possible war with Iraq.
Prescott said the Fire Brigades Union was not serious about a negotiated settlement but was ``playing cat and mouse with the employers, the government, public safety and public money.''
Andy Gilchrist, general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, accused the government of bullying.
``It is quite clear to us that the government has never been prepared to see a negotiated settlement to this matter,'' Gilchrist said in an interview with British Broadcasting Corp. radio.
Local government employers are offering an 11 percent raise in return for changes in working practices, which union leaders say would cost 4,500 jobs.
``We will negotiate on the issue of pay and indeed of improving the service,'' Gilchrist said. ``We fail to understand how the removal of thousands of firefighters from the fire service improves or modernizes the service.''
Firefighters have accused the government of vetoing a tentative agreement with employers for pay raises of 16 percent earlier in the dispute.
``I think we could come to an agreement if we were allowed, without unhelpful government intervention, to negotiate with our employers. This is yet another unhelpful intervention,'' Gilchrist said.
