We're bringing our live coverage of Scottish Parliament election campaigning to a close for today.

We'll be back tomorrow morning so please join us then.

Here are the headlines from the day's campaigning:

• SNP leader John Swinney apologised to all islanders affected by unprecedented levels of disruption to the ferry network and pledged £10m in a resilience fund for them
• Scottish Greensco-leader Gillian Mackay said those islanders affected should be given at least a year's worth of free travel as compensation
• The "ferry fiasco is a totem of SNP incompetence", argued Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay
• Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, said his party would fix the broken ferries system with a single ferries agency and accused the SNP of failing the islands for almost 20 years
• Parliament should have been recalled over the ferries crisis, insisted Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton
• The energy spokesperson for Reform UK Richard Ticechose to focus on energy supply and called for an end to "net stupid zero" policies and the energy profits levy

Alex Morrison
BBC Scotland News reporter in Stornoway

Image source, PA Media

The SNP leader came off the ferry from Ullapool without much fanfare and locals seemed happy to go about their business as normal.

It was a relatively calm day on the Minch (the stretch of water between Ullapool and Stornoway) for the nearly three-hour crossing and the weather held up during John Swinney's visit to Stornoway.

He has been a fairly regular visitor to the Western Isles in his time in government.

The MV Loch Seaforth which he travelled on is one of the newer ferries in the CalMac fleet, just over a decade old. And so far it has not been troubled by the same level of technical difficulties as other vessels - either older or newer.

We eventually caught up with Swinney at An Taigh Ceilidh - The Ceilidh House - after he had lunch there with staff and a group of customers.

An Taigh Ceilidh is a Gaelic community space in the centre of Stornoway. And the birthplace of Gaelic Scrabble!

Could the parliament really be shut down?published at 16:40 BST

16:40 BST

BBC Scotland: Phil Sim

Conservative leader Russell Findlay suggested this morning that he could support an end to devolution if that reflected the will of the people.

It will actually be on the ballot paper on 7 May - there is a candidate standing for the “Abolish the Scottish Parliament” party, and UKIP are running under a banner of “scrap Holyrood”.

But could the parliament really be shut down?

The Scotland Act had a section added to it in 2016 to underline that the Scottish Parliament and government are “a permanent part of the United Kingdom’s constitutional arrangements”, and that they are “not to be abolished except on the basis of a decision of the people of Scotland voting in a referendum”.

It is also true that constitutional laws can be amended - so in theory, a future UK government could take it upon itself to change the Scotland Act, and alter the devolved powers of the parliament.

However given that every mainstream party has bought into devolution - including Nigel Farage stating that there is “no room” for anti-devolution views in Reform UK - it is unlikely that any of them would support a move to bring it to an end without a major shift in public opinion.

While polling on Scottish independence is closely contested, the idea of not having a Scottish parliament at all remains very much a minority view

CalMac has announced a revised deployment plan from Thursday 9 April until Friday 17 April inclusive.

The service revisions come as the ferry operator deals with four major and four small vessels unavailable for service.

MV Glen Sannox returned to service this afternoon on the Troon to Arran route.

MV Isle of Islay, the newest vessel in the fleet, will be redeployed from Islay to Barra from Thursday to allow timetabled services to be restored on the latter.

Doing this also allows CalMac to reinstate normal services on the Little Minch, where MV Clansman has been covering three islands recently.

With Arran now served by two vessels - MV Glen Sannox and Caledonian Isles - the chartered catamaran Alfred will be sent to provide extra capacity on the Islay route.

Donald Lamont in Stornoway

Ferries have long been an important election issue in the Western Isles - never more so than now - as a third of CalMac's network is out of action.

Fuel poverty in the Western Isles is amongst the highest in the UK an issue exacerbated by recent spikes in the cost of heating oil which most islanders rely on.

Social care is also high on the electoral agenda with an ageing population and lack of capacity to look after them.

Donald Lamont in Stornoway

SNP leader John Swinney has apologised to all islanders affected by what has been described as unprecedented levels of disruption across the ferry network.

Speaking in Stornoway, Swinney said he was conscious of the impact of the disruption on people's lives and businesses.

He pledged a £10milllion resilience fund for islanders affected if the SNP wins the election in May.

Image source, PA

The lights went out during the Reform UK election event in Aberdeen.

The party's energy spokesman Richard Tice explained that the stunt had been arranged to make a point about energy supply.

"To think that we are on an island of energy treasure of oil and gas and yet we could run out of electricity."

The party has backed fracking for shale gas as part of efforts to extract "every last barrel, every last drop" of gas and oil in the UK and is calling for the UK government to approve licences for the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields in the North Sea.

Would you like to be in the audience for BBC Scotland's leaders debate?

The special episode of Debate Night, hosted by Stephen Jardine, will take place between 19:00 and 20:30 on Sunday 12 April in Paisley Town Hall.

The leaders of the Scottish Conservatives, Scottish Greens, Scottish Labour, Scottish Liberal Democrats, Scottish National Party, and Reform UK have been invited to take part.

You can apply to be part of the audience at bbc.co.uk/debatenight or by clicking this link.

David Wallace Lockhart
Political correspondent

Image source, PA

John Swinney is in the Western Isles today, outlining proposed support for businesses and organisations that have been affected by recent ferry disruption.

The pledge on offer is that a re-elected government led by him would bring forward a £10m resilience fund.

And the SNP leader is promising the CalMac and David MacBrayne boards will have more seats for island residents.

Swinney is insisting that he's a political leader who's "always on the side of Scotland's islands".

Though many residents do seem to be at their wit's end when it comes to problems getting to and from island communities.

Ferries, and the various problems with them, have been a political headache for the SNP for some time. This event suggests that the SNP leader is trying to grasp the problem and get a bit more on the front foot.

MAJOR VESSELS

• MV Lord of the Isles - Unable to sail due to issue with starboard main engine "holding down" arrangement and has been relocated to the Clyde for repairs.

• MV Isle of Arran - CalMac has struggled to source a second replacement coupling for the bow thruster due to the vessel's age and "unique components". New parts may have to be manufactured.

• MV Isle of Lewis - Major steelwork corrosion identified during annual maintenance and not expected to return until the end of May.

• MV Hebrides - Remains in planned annual overhaul and is scheduled to return to service on 18 April.

• MV Alfred - Annual overhaul completed and vessel now being repositioned to provide extra capacity for Islay, while MV Isle of Islay is redeployed to the Barra route from Thursday.

SMALL VESSELS

• MV Loch Bhrusda - Vessel being sent to Mallaig for repairs after issue with forward main engine which are expected to be completed on Saturday.
• MV Loch Linnhe - Due to arrive at Ardmaleish yard for repairs to oil leak on Tuesday, with work due to be completed on Thursday.

• MV Loch Portain - Planned annual overhaul and not due to return until 12 May.

• MV Loch Frisa - Annual overhaul completed but not due to return to service until 13 April due to planned additional work and checks.

Image source, CHRISTOPHER BRINDLE

Even with the troubled ferry MV Glen Sannox returning to service on its Troon-Arran route, it still means around a third of it vessels aren't sailing today.

Islanders on Barra are currently affected by the withdrawal of the MV Lord of the Isles from the Oban-Castlebay route, due to an engine problem.

Helen McClymont, the Owner of Barra Island Stores, tells Radio Scotland's Lunchtime Live how that's affecting her business: "It's been costing a fair bit of money to the business, basically no customers that's been the biggest problem."

She says there's been no fresh food deliveries and she adds everybody is affected.

Back to the ferries crisis, which is proving to be the biggest topic on the election trail today.

The Scottish Greens say that people who have been badly affected by disruption to CalMac services should be given at least a year's worth of free travel.

Speaking on a visit to Orkney, co-Leader Gillian Mackay said the maintenance schedule of the ferries also needs to be looked at but that in the immediate term the focus should be on supporting islanders for essential travel, so they can get to things like hospital appointments.

She also said that it is important to continue to look at alternative fuel systems for the fleet to protect against the "price shock" that we are currently seeing.

On the campaign trail, Reform UK are holding a press conference in Aberdeen this lunchtime.

The party’s deputy leader, Richard Tice, and its leader in Scotland, Malcolm Offord, has set out a four-point-plan to increase domestic energy supply in the UK.

Those points are:

1. Approve all existing oil and gas field applications including Rosebank and Jackdaw
2. Get rid of the windfall tax or energy profits levy
3. Get rid of “net stupid zero” policies
4. Regulatory reform to prevent “dither and delay” for approving future oil and gas fields

We've been hearing from Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay at Troon harbour, but earlier he spoke on BBC Radio Scotland about his party's manifesto launch and the upcoming Scottish election.

Andrew Kerr
BBC Scotland political correspondent

More from Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay at Troon harbour as he watches the newly-repaired Glen Sannox ferry depart for Arran.

Findlay said the ferry “wasn’t taking a single passenger” as it’s in a “continued state of disrepair”.

Questioned how he might try to resolve the situation, he said Ardrossan harbour should have been repaired and ready to take the new ferries and that a production line of new vessels was needed to replace what he called the “ageing CalMac fleet”.

That could have been done by building overseas or making use of Scottish yards, Findlay said.

Asked for his reaction to the first minister’s £10m pledge to islanders, Findlay said that John Swinney spent half a billion pounds on two boats that “aren’t right” and has now suddenly found £10m to try to “buy off islanders’ anger” just weeks before an election.

He added that they wouldn’t be impressed by that; that it was tokenistic, opportunistic and that Swinney should take some real responsibility for what he called the “ferry scandal”.

Arts funding is to be welcomed - but how does the sector survive?published at 13:39 BST

13:39 BST

Pauline McLean
BBC Scotland Arts Correspondent

Anas Sarwar has yet to launch his party’s manifesto but he clearly felt the pledge to the cultural sector was worth more than a footnote.

At its heart, a new fund for up to a thousand young artists and creatives to get their businesses off the ground.

Alongside that, a creative capital fund for upgrading and protecting venues, like the former swimming baths-turned weaving studios he toured before making the announcement.

While both schemes are likely to be warmly welcomed – along with the acknowledgement that it’s been an incredibly challenging few years – it’s unclear how the rest of the sector can survive, let alone thrive in the current climate.

Demand has long outstripped public funding in Scotland’s creative world.

While there’s a pledge from Scottish Labour, like almost every other party, to reform the funding body Creative Scotland and make it more transparent and accountable, they’ll still have to make some tough decisions about what and who gets funding.

Jenni Davidson
BBC Scotland senior politics reporter

Scottish Labour has pledged to create a new fund to help young artists and creatives get their business off the ground.

The Creative Enterprise Allowance would support up to 1,000 early-stage entrepreneurs through a weekly payment to help with living costs.

Speaking on a visit to the Dovecot tapestry studio in Edinburgh, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said the allowance would enable aspiring entrepreneurs to start and then scale-up their businesses in order to grow the Scottish economy and attract attention and investment from the rest of the world.

Glenn Campbell
BBC Scotland Political Editor

Image source, PA Media

John Swinney is on the campaign trail in Stornoway and has been speaking about global issues as well as the Scottish Parliament election.

With the ceasefire agreement between the US and Iran, Scotland’s first minister and SNP leader has said “the world breathes a sigh of relief”.

On Tuesday he accused Donald Trump of threatening genocide when the US president suggested a whole civilisation could be wiped out.

Swinney’s efforts to build a constructive relationship with Trump to make the case for better trade terms for Scotch whisky now seem very last year.

More generally, the first minister is not shy about commenting on international affairs despite having no formal role in what is an area of UK government responsibility.

He is of course entitled to take a view on matters of war and peace and would no doubt argue that anyone in a position of leadership should do so.

That does not stop his political opponents getting frustrated because they think Swinney grandstands on global affairs to deflect from his domestic record.

As leader of the Holyrood administration, his primary responsibilities include health and education, law and order, roads and ferries.

In the midst of an election campaign, these issues are to the fore but so is the cost of living crisis that is fuelled by conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine.

Image source, Getty Images

Some good news from CalMac as it announces the troubled ferry MV Glen Sannox is returning to service on its Troon-Arran route.

The news comes hours after the operator announced the cancellation of MV Alfred sailings on the route due to a "crew issue". Glen Sannox will make the return journey twice on Wednesday afternoon, first leaving Troon at 13:00.

Almost a third of CalMac's ferry fleet is out of action due to technical faults and annual repairs, with the firm's boss warning it is struggling to maintain services.

Duncan Mackison, said they had been facing an "unprecedented scenario" which had now worsened.