Former SNP deputy leader Jim Sillars has said he hasn’t voted for the party for “a long time” as he called for a “rapprochement” with those who left to join Alba.

In an interview for Holyrood’s Politically Speaking podcast, Sillars said there was “no case to be argued at the current time” for independence because of a lack of detail about what it would mean.

Sillars recently took part in a fringe event at the Alba Party conference, but said he remained in the SNP.

He said: “I didn’t join Alba, and I won’t join Alba. Alba and the SNP means the movement is split, and a split movement will not win.