Yes, but only for one year. After that you will have to get a proper UK licence, which I believe means you have to sit the test.
Go (in person) to an insurance broker, or phone one up. Tell them of your circumstances. Some will take into account a no claims record which was built up in other country, if you can prove it. Many won't, shop around.
You won't get any licence from the MOT, it's the DVLA you want to be talking to.
Unlike the USA (which I buttume is where you are from) all cars in the UK have an age identification in their numberplates, so it's very easy to tell how old a car is just by the registration number. Previously we had letters of the alphabet as the first letter of the plate and these changed every 6 months (and prior to that once a year). So if a car is "H-Reg" you'll be able to work out it's age straight away.
Now the system is different, there is a two letter prefix for the area of registration, then a date code, last year was 04 for the start of the year and 54 for the end of the year, this year will be 05 and 55. (I'm simplying here for clarity I know the dates don't exactly match the year)
For older cars the amount of road tax you pay depends on your engine size. Now it depends on carbon emissions, however the difference isn't so great that it should affect your choice of car, IMO.
Yes, every year you must get your car MOT'd. These are a list of checks performed by a local garage bascially to ensure your car is fully roadworthy before you can drive it on the roads, it only applies to cars over 3 years old. It's perfectly sensible IMO otherwise you'd have people driving junk around the roads, and causing big problems. However if you have a little mechanical knowledge running a banger should be possible.
