Rising fuel prices, skyrocketing energy bills and the increasing cost of food are all making life incredibly difficult for households and businesses up and down the country.

And thanks in no small part to this government’s reckless austerity obsession, the economy is showing no real sign of improvement.

So I can understand why some are calling for the planned 3p rise in fuel duty, which was due back in August but postponed by the government, to be delayed until next year.

Last night MPs voted in the Commons on a Labour motion which called for exactly that.

However, I don’t believe that scrapping the fuel duty rise is the answer – and I want to explain why I voted against Labour’s motion.

If we cut fuel prices, we risk creating a black hole in the budget which would likely lead to tax rises elsewhere, or even more public spending cuts – hitting the most vulnerable even harder.

Labour claims that they would fill the gap by cracking down on tax avoidance.

I agree that stamping out tax avoidance and evasion is crucial, but it should be happening anyway, with the money going directly to struggling households.

Rather than cutting petrol and diesel duty, the government could reverse the 2011 increase in VAT and bring in a more progressive income tax policy.

The Greens believe this approach would help the poorest most because VAT is indiscriminate and regressive.

Ultimately, the reality is that petrol prices will keep rising as demand massively outstrips supply.

Many analysts predict that whatever we do, fuel prices are going to go up by a factor of 2-3 times their present level by about 2030 - due in part to peak oil and in part to demand from emerging economies like India and China.

At the moment, households in Britain are effectively being held hostage to the rising cost of fuel.

So we need fair action which gets us out of this trap and which benefits everyone – not just car drivers.

Here in Brighton and Hove, for example, people are less car dependent than in virtually any other city in the UK. Nationally, one in four households is without a car.

This means making sure there is viable and affordable alternatives.

Public transport should not be a luxury that only the well-off can afford, but in so many instances, it works out cheaper to drive than to take that option.

According to Norman Baker MP at the DfT, (in a parliamentary question), fuel tax in the UK has been increasing for the last 15 years, but the real cost of motoring, including the purchase of a vehicle, actually declined by 10%.

Meanwhile, bus and coach fares increased by a shocking 54% and rail fares by 55% in real terms.

The government must halt the rail fare rises planned for January, which risk pushing ever more people into transport poverty.

We also need to get serious about tackling air pollution – and carbon emissions – from our transport system.

Whilst many car journeys are absolutely necessary, around 23% of car journeys are less than 2 miles long and 56% less than 5 miles.

It’s also worth saying that replacing the fuel duty escalator with a stabiliser, as some people advocate, would effectively mean the taxpayer subsidising the cost of oil by sending billions to oil exporters.

With the IEA now warning that two thirds of global fossil fuels must stay in the ground if we are to avoid catastrophic climate change, we cannot afford to go down this path.

ENDS