IT seems to be widely believed that the older generation should now apologise to the younger generation for not voting the way the some people would have liked.

I speak as one who might have voted Yes if I could have found someone who could have addressed even one of my concerns. It seemed to me that where Yes people may have fallen down was in celebrating their victory before the election. Perhaps they were too busy having pre-election victory parties to focus on winning people over. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good party: banging drums, singing and waving flags is great fun, but any campaign which is so totally focused on image rather than content and addressing people's concerns is surely handi­capping itself.

So, I apologise for not being convinced by the Yes Campaign, though perhaps my judgment was clouded by working all my life to support my family and funding them - I still am - through various universities, jobs and relationships. Maybe I should also apologise on behalf of the even older generation, people like my mother who, while in the army survived the London Blitz, or my father-in-law, who served in 2 Commando, his wartime experi­ences shaving years off the latter part of his life. Perhaps also my various late and prematurely-ageing relatives who worked down coal mines all their lives to support their families.

I have been reassured by at least one aspect of the recent referendum. Many of the young people I have spoken to have shown themselves to be intelligent, erudite, responsible and mature in a way that surprised and pleased me beyond measure. I am certain that they at least have learned much about politics and people from their experiences. It may well serve them well in the future. Just maybe they have learned that perhaps it wasn't the older generation who let them down.

David Bell,

8 Teviot Place, Troon.

I AM in my seventh decade. So far dotage has passed me by, and I wish to dissociate myself from Doug Marr's apology to young voters who voted Yes ("To young people who voted Yes, I am sorry for my generation's choice", Herald Agenda, September 22).

My decision to vote for Better Together was not based on fear for my pension or of losing my bus pass, on the value of my house or unwillingness to make sacrifice.

It was based on my judgment that the prospects for a fairer and prosperous Scotland lay with Better Together and not separation.

I respect the decision of those who voted Yes in good faith. Please do not impugn that of many of the older generation who voted No.

R Russell Smith,

96 Milton Road, Kilbirnie.

I AM experiencing an increasing sense of incredulity. As if older people don't take blame already for many of society's challenges (bed blockers, biggest users of the NHS, only interested in their pensions, and so on) I now find, that as a No voter in the referendum, and as an older person, I have ruined the chances of future generations of young Scots.

Alex Salmond says we over-55 No voters have "impeded progress for future generations", and now Doug Marr takes it upon himself to apologise for his generation, which, since he is retired, is my generation too. Whether I am 16 or 60, surely I have the right to make my own informed choice?

Winnie Hall,

48 Gallowhill Road,

Kinross.

I WAS moved by the contribution of Doug Marr, a former secondary schoolteacher, on how our generation let our children down in voting overwhelmingly for No.

Approaching 70 myself, I heard at the poll some of the concerns of many of my generation. They had been persuaded that bus passes and pensions and suchlike, the privileges that we have become used to in the post-war years, were going to be at risk and were placed at the centre of their concerns.

So I add my apology to that of Mr Marr. My generation let it slip. Collectively we seem to have forgotten where we came from.

I pity the young, their joblessness and their increasing dependence on their parents.

Independence should have been seen as a natural condition for our country, but we chose dependence, not just for Scotland but for them. Generosity and thought for their tomorrow was simply abandoned in our rush to cling on to "mine today".

Ian McLaren,

27 Buchanan Drive,

Lenzie.