The SNP offers a "conservative vision of Scotland" which Rise will challenge, Colin Fox has said.

Speaking at his party's manifesto launch the former MSP outlined Rise's support for a second independence referendum before the end of the next parliament. Fox was also critical of the SNP's policies across a number of areas.

Fox said: "We restate here in front of the people of Scotland today that supporting Scotland's democratic right to self-determination does not make you a Scottish nationalist-it makes you a democrat.

"The SNP cannot deliver independence on its own. Nicola Sturgeon knows that. We all know that.

"The SNP in our view offers a conservative vision of Scotland. One that offers far too little to its strongest supporters in working class areas of Scotland.

"They talk left but act right. They present a conservative vision of Scotland that wants to conserve the council tax, conserve low taxes for corporations and the rich, conserve the monarchy, conserve Scotland's war mongering Nato membership and conserve the pound in Scotland".

The manifesto includes a resolution on a second independence referendum which will be put forward by Rise MSPs.

Currently Holyrood cannot hold a second independence referendum without Westminster temporally devolving the required powers. The resolution would call for the parliament to "its assert its right" to hold a referendum "at the time of its choosing".

He said: "Our resolution will give Holyrood the chance to commit to a second referendum. Our resolution will put the SNP where so many of its members want it to be: behind a new rigorous, energised campaign for independence."

The SNP was also criticised by former SNP MSP Jean Urquhart who is now standing in the election for Rise.

Urquhart described the SNP's policy as "nonsense" and said that Scotland being able to remove trident and join the military alliance was a "lie".

Urquhart said: "I was in the SNP and I do believe-obviously, very committed to independence and I left the party over their change in policy about Nato. But wasn't just the policy that changed. What happened was a cynical movement."

She continued: "The lie is what is wrong with the SNP policy. The argument that Nato or otherwise, or the idea that you could get rid of trident was a nonsense, of course, and remains a nonsense.

"The fact that they could be so cynical about that means that they can be cynical about other things."

The election campaign was described as "pretty boring and predictable" by Rise party politician Cat Boyd who said her party's manifesto could "shake up this election from the slumber it has gotten in to".

The left-wing alliance's manifesto includes using Holyrood's new income tax powers to raise the top rate from 45% to 60% and replace the council tax with a Scottish service tax based on income instead of property value.