A Green Party MEP has slammed Tony Blair's lack of "logic" on the environment.

In an interview with ePolitix.com, Jean Lambert hit out at the prime minister for trying "to ride two horses" on tackling climate change and prioritising economic growth.

Ahead of this weekend's party conference in Chesterfield, she said the government could not coherently use its G8 presidency this year to boost measures to bring down global warming at the same time as using its EU chairmanship to put growth before the environment.

"I don't think there is a logic, I think what governments have tried to do for a long time is try to ride both horses and at some point you come up against a tree and it hurts. So he really needs to sort out what he wants to do," she said.

"If you really want to deal with issues around global poverty and climate change you cannot do that on the old growth agenda because that's part of the problem and unless he's really going to think through what measures he wants to see in terms of tackling climate change rather that simply saying what are the next set of targets, he's going to hit problems because at the moment the EU and the UK don't have a serious training strategy for how they are going to introduce new ideas into the world of work. 

"We cannot meet our climate change targets unless we train the electricians, the plumbers, the builders to install solar panels, build eco-efficient house and maintain them.

"We haven't even got that far so in the UK we have signed up for higher targets and we are still not looking at what we have to do even with the workforce."

Lambert, who is leading a campaign against the EU plans to introduce a free market in the provision of services, also claims the European parliament is baring its teeth on the issue.

"It's a co-decision on this so that means we aren't just consulted on it we are co-legislators and therefore if parliament doesn't like the agreement we come to then it doesn't go through and certainly it won't get through without major amendment," she told this website.

"And Council is already coming to realise that the British government, who have been so enthusiastic supporters, is saying maybe health shouldn't be in there and you begin to hear this from a lot of other governments that they are concerned this legislation isn't as good as it should be and needs some serious re-working."

She also uses the interview to claim it is now realistic that the Greens will get their first MP under first-past-the-post and goes on to claim that the party is ready to move towards having a single spokesperson, if not a leader.