I made the Greens pro-independence – here's the truth about their approach to Yes

Back in the early to mid-80s, the Greens – or the Ecology Party as they were till 1985 – were a mere dot on the Scottish political landscape and were generally, if unjustly, perceived as being a single issue party. While Alex Salmond and the 79 Group were seeking to graft social democracy onto the SNP’s independence DNA, the Greens were trying to grow their policy profile past the environment.

Taking a coherent position on independence, one way or another, seemed to be an obvious candidate to be part of that process and, while no nationalist, it seemed to me that Scotland would be better off out of what appeared to be an increasingly dysfunctional London-centric British state. It was a matter of democracy, not nationalism.

I was successful in proposing that the Greens adopt independence as policy. I recall our party was so few in numbers that what turned out to be a pivotal moment in Scottish Green Party history involved barely 70 people meeting in a Dundee hotel.

READ MORE: Patrick Harvie speaks out after end of Bute House Agreement

For years the policy quietly slept in the background as the Greens got on with the day job of arguing for ecological sustainability and hoping somehow to break through the first-past-the-post electoral barrier.

But things were to take a radical turn with the establishment of the Scottish Parliament and, thanks to the list system, the Greens found themselves with a member of the new Holyrood parliament at the first time of asking, in the person of the original rainbow-scarfed warrior, Robin Harper.

The Greens’ parliamentary fortunes ebbed and flowed, with their vote hovering around the 5%-7% mark, just on the cusp of electoral success or failure. And while those around him in the Green group came and went, Patrick Harvie became an established member of the Parliament in what has proven to be a “safe” seat on the Glasgow list. On the back of this, and with Harper retiring from the field, Harvie became the Greens’ leader in the Parliament and co-leader of the party.

While it could be argued that the Greens already punched well above their weight given their parliamentary numbers, it was to be the independence referendum that would be the making of them in general, and Harvie in particular.

Former leader of the Scottish Greens Robin Harper

At a stroke, it became the Greens’ ticket to the political mainstream as the SNP were eager not to be seen as the only party backing independence. Almost overnight Harvie found himself becoming a regular on the round of TV studios throughout the 2014 indyref campaign, gaining kudos for himself and his party. A decision taken decades earlier in a hotel in Dundee was now paying out big time.

In the aftermath of the referendum campaign the Greens saw their membership soar. They may have been on the losing side but the exposure they gained during the campaign and their now very public association with the independence cause was working for them.

In the years that followed, a minority SNP government found itself time and time again looking to its Green indyref allies to get its budgets through Parliament. And while there was much that divided them ideologically they developed a working relationship.

Following the last Holyrood election, the SNP – again short of an outright majority – took the bold decision to try to tie the Greens into a more formal arrangement. After lengthy negotiations, the deal was sealed with the Bute House Agreement. The Greens got a couple of junior ministerial posts and the SNP got a stable and working majority. Or so they thought.

It all unravelled spectacularly in the aftermath of the failure, yet again, of the Scottish Government to meet its own climate change targets and its subsequent decision to abandon its commitment to reduce carbon emissions in Scotland by 75% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels.

READ MORE: Graeme McCormick on why he wants to run as SNP leader

Like many Greens, I was less than well pleased to see Harvie and Slater sit dumbly and glumly alongside Cabinet Secretary Mairi McAllan as she announced this fateful decision to Parliament. Were a couple of ministerial jobs enough to buy the silence and compliance of a party who had just seen a policy red line not so much crossed as obliterated? It appeared so.

Unsurprisingly, many in the party’s rank and file were calling for an end to the Bute House Agreement. But Harvie and Slater doubled down and were hoping to survive a internal party vote on the matter when Humza Yousaf took the decision for them, with consequences for all concerned.

Now out of government the Greens have decisions to make. They seem likely to back the SNP on a vote-by- vote basis – but what about their commitment to independence?

Slater is on record as stating that it would not necessarily be a deal-breaker in coming to some future agreement with Labour. It may just be a personal view but it is one which is bound to attract scrutiny as we approach the next Holyrood election. SNP voters might rightly question whether they can trust their list vote to their erstwhile indyref allies.

I suspect we have not heard the end of the matter and that Slater might yet discover that careless talk can cost political lives.