LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Reforms of Britain's planning laws to allow new nuclear power stations to be approved and built quickly were necessary to help reduce the country's dependence on oil and to combat climate change, Prime Minister Gordon Brown will say in a major speech on energy today.

Brown's remarks come a day after the government yesterday defeated an attempt by rebel MPs from the ruling Labour Party to let ministers have the final say on planning decisions instead of an independent unelected commission. ... Read full article