British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, says the UK budget to be announced on 22 April will kick start a “green” route to economic recovery.

In an interview with the Independent, Brown outlined a flurry of environmentally friendly measures, including plans to create the UK’s first green cities, and to make Britain “a world leader” in producing and exporting electric cars, hybrid petrol-electric vehicles and lighter cars using less petrol.

He said that trials for electric cars in two or three cities will begin next year, and that the government will open talks with power companies to ensure the vehicles can recharge their batteries at a national network of roadside power points.

Brown says the green initiatives are “a major part of [the UK’s] plan for recovery in the budget”.

In the budget, Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, will also set a target of creating 400,000 jobs in “green industries” over the next five years.

Brown says the jobs of the future would come from a “green revolution” and an expansion in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, health care, education, the creative industries, information technology, bioscience and advanced manufacturing (Guardian).

But BBC News notes that Brown was recently criticised by the New Economics Foundation, an independent think-tank based in London, for failing to harness Labour’s economic stimulus for the benefit of the environment.