Coronavirus: Leaders unite against PM’s ‘stay alert’ slogan

Boris Johnson has revealed the first details of the government’s revised coronavirus rules – as the leaders of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland united in opposition to the prime minister’s new slogan.

The longstanding official guidance to “stay at home, protect the NHS, save lives” has been amended to “stay alert, control the virus, save lives”.

The UK government’s guidance is now:

• Stay at home as much as possible
• Work at home if you can
• Limit contact with other people
• Keep your distance if you go out (2m apart where possible)
• Wash your hands regularly
• If you or anyone in your household has symptoms, you all need to self-isolate

Watch Sky News at 7pm tonight for the prime minister’s pre-recorded address to the nation over ending the lockdown.

Full details of the change in regulations will be published as the PM delivers his speech.

But he unveiled the new “stay alert” slogan in a post on his official Twitter account, where he has removed the “stay at home” mantra from his handle.

Mr Johnson’s decision to switch to the “stay alert” slogan was criticised by other leaders.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Scotland would not be adopting it yet.

“We mustn’t squander progress by easing up too soon or sending mixed messages,” she said in her daily COVID-19 briefing.

“People will die unnecessarily. We must not take that risk. My basic message remains the same: please stay at home.”

She also announced that, from Wednesday, people in Scotland will no longer be limited to exercising outdoors once a day.

Ms Sturgeon had previously said she first learned of “the PM’s new slogan” in Sunday newspaper reports.

Speaking to Sky News’ Sophy Ridge On Sunday, Wales’ First Minister Mark Drakeford also stressed the stay at home slogan had not “gone away” in his nation.

“The message I will be giving to people in Wales is while they must be alert to the continuing danger of coronavirus… staying at home remains the best way that you can protect yourself and others,” he said.

“The fewer contacts you have with other people, the more you suppress your own risk and the risk to others.

“So being alert is important, but staying at home has not gone away.”

Northern Ireland First Minister Arlene Foster said her region would also not be deviating from the “stay at home” message.

And SDLP leader Colum Eastwood has told Boris Johnson that his new slogan is “a nonsense”.

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Professor Susan Michie, a behavioural expert who is a member of the government’s scientific advisory group for emergencies (SAGE), said the new slogan is “a long way” from being clear and consistent.

She added: “Dropping the ‘stay at home’ message from the main slogan in favour of generalised alertness may be taken as a green light by many to not stay at home and begin socialising with friends and other activities that increase the risk of transmission.

“This could potentially undermine the good work over the last few weeks that has seen impressively sustained high levels of adherence by the public in what for many are very challenging situations.”

Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said government briefings to newspapers had left the public confused.

“I think the problem with the slogan that has been briefed to some newspapers is that people will be looking at it slightly puzzled, questioning what does it mean to stay alert and what are the government saying with that,” he said.

“I think some of those briefings to newspapers has led to the situation yesterday and on Friday of lots of people going to parks, enjoying the sunshine.”

Andy Burnham, the Labour mayor of Greater Manchester, tweeted that it “feels to me like a mistake to me to drop the clear” stay at home message.

Dave Ward, general secretary of the Communication Workers Union, said: “The messaging from this government throughout this crisis has been a total joke, but their new slogan takes it to a new level.”

He added: “Stay alert? It’s a deadly virus, not a zebra crossing.”

Harry Potter author JK Rowling wrote on Twitter: “Is coronavirus sneaking around in a fake moustache and glasses? If we drop our guard, will it slip us a Micky Finn? What the hell is ‘stay alert’ supposed to mean?”

Writer and comedian Adam Kay added that it would be “difficult to stay alert to something that’s 0.0001 millimetres in diameter. This pandemic is going to have as many spikes as a coronavirus”.

Junior doctor Julia Simons tweeted: “Please can someone tell Boris coronavirus is not a physical assailant? You can’t stay alert to single-stranded RNA.”

Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick told Sky News a “broader” slogan was needed as the government looked to restart the economy.

“I think that’s what the public want and that they will be able to understand this message, which is that we should be staying home as much as possible but when we do go to work and go about our business we need to remain vigilant, we need to stay alert,” he said.

Asked on Sky News’ Sophy Ridge On Sunday if there was a danger the message was too woolly, Mr Jenrick said: “Well I hope not.

“We need to have a broader message because we want to slowly and cautiously restart the economy and the country.”

The slogan is expected to be officially revealed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson this evening as part of a coronavirus warning system.

The system will have five levels which will provide a path to the end of lockdown restrictions.

Mr Johnson will urge workers who cannot work from home to begin returning to their workplaces while following social distancing rules.

He will chair a meeting of the emergency COBRA committee with cabinet ministers, leaders of the devolved nations, and London Mayor Sadiq Khan before his 7pm pre-recorded address.

More than 31,000 people have died in the UK after testing positive for the coronavirus.

(c) Sky News 2020: Coronavirus: Leaders unite against PM’s ‘stay alert’ slogan