He also argued the scale of planning involved in providing a child for gay couples through donor insemination and surrogacy methods often makes them better parents than their heterosexual counterparts.

BBC: Gays 'have right to parenthood'

Mr Wheelhouse said only 21% of planning applications for large-scale wind farms considered by government-appoint planning officials in 2012-13 were approved.

BBC: Concerns raised over wind turbines and wild land

It said large scale construction projects of any type require years of planning and preparation, even those that are, quote, "on the shelf" generally cannot be undertaken quickly enough to provide timely stimulus to the economy.

NPR: Orszag Eyes Swift Spending Of Stimulus Funds

Thus, although British food retailers are world leaders, says McKinsey, they would do better still if planning restrictions did not stop the building of stores on the scale of America and France.

ECONOMIST: Productivity: The British disease revisited | The

Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell said that no Olympic planning had been based on Crossrail, and Transport Minister Alistair Darling said the scale of the project would make such a date unlikely.

BBC: NEWS | UK | England | London | On track for Olympic bid?

The council's reasons for rejecting planning permission were doubts over figures in a traffic survey, as well as the large scale of the development and the loss of open space and amenities.

BBC: Council rejects Oldham ground bid

To rebound, the party is planning a large-scale marketing and outreach campaign over coming months, reaching into neighborhoods and regions of the country where Republicans don't usually fare well, Mr. Priebus will announce, according to his speech.

WSJ: RNC Issues Scathing Analysis of GOP