TOMMY Sheridan has confirmed his Solidarity party is involved in a new pro-independence group set up by a former SNP MSP.

Dave Thompson fronts the new Alliance for Independence (AFI), which is due to submit its registration paperwork to the Electoral Commission today.

The group will field list candidates in next year’s Holyrood vote in an effort to “max the Yes” in the Scottish Parliament.

However, the SNP have accused the AFI of “gaming the system” and have refused to withdraw their own list candidates.

Sheridan, a former MSP who was convicted of perjury in 2010, said Solidarity representatives had attended the first meeting of the AFI earlier this year.

He said the AFI conference appeared “worth participating in” and added his party could put the cause of independence first in the 2021 election and stand as part of the umbrella group.

READ MORE: Dave Thompson defends new Alliance for Independence party

On February 2 this year, Solidarity sent representatives to the first AFI meeting in Glasgow. One of the hosts was former Solidarity co-convener Pat Lee.

Speaking to the Scottish Prism podcast, Sheridan said: "We went to the first meeting of the Alliance. We sent delegates as observers to that.

"The observers came back and said it was worth considering but there's a lot of work to be done.

"I think they've a conference planned in September or October.

"I think that is something that is worth participating in.

"Within Solidarity, I think we always have to put the cause before the party, and the cause of independence is bigger than Solidarity. So if this is a cause that can be advanced via this Alliance, then why don't we sit down and discuss like adults?"

The former Scottish Socialist Party leader was sentenced to three years in prison in 2011 for committing perjury in the £200,000 defamation action he won against the News of the World in 2006.

He currently works for Russian state-controlled news organisation, Sputnik.