The Government's new coronavirus slogan has been slammed for being too ambiguous as people are now being told to 'stay alert' instead of 'stay home.'
Boris Johnson is expected to drop the "stay home" slogan in his briefing tonight as he unveils how the government plans to gradually ease the lockdown over the next few months.
The Prime Minister will tell the country to "stay alert, control the virus and save lives" when he outlines his "road map" to a new normality using a five-tier alert system.
After parts of the plans were briefed to newspapers people expressed their concerns over how people will interpret the change in slogan.
Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said the Government’s new “stay alert” slogan risks ambiguity.
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He added: "We need absolute clarity from Boris Johnson. There's no room for nuance in this.
"This virus exploits ambivalence, it thrives on ambiguity and I think the problem with the slogan that has been briefed to the newspapers is people will be looking slightly puzzled, questioning 'What does it mean to stay alert? What are the Government saying with that?'
"So I hope that Boris Johnson will offer us that crystal-clear clarity tonight that is desperately needed."
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon hit out at the government over seemingly not briefing her on the new slogan before the papers and said she will not be using it.
She wrote on Twitter : "The Sunday papers is the first I’ve seen of the PM’s new slogan.
"It is of course for him to decide what’s most appropriate for England, but given the critical point we are at in tackling the virus, #StayHomeSaveLives remains my clear message to Scotland at this stage."
MS Minister for Health and Social Services Vaughan Gething also said that Wales would not be adopting the new slogan, writing on Twitter: "I’ve seen the media briefings and changed message for England.
"There has not been a 4 nations agreement or discussion on this. The @WelshGovernment message has not changed. Stay at home and if you do go out observe the social distancing rules. #StayHomeSaveLives."
Top-selling Harry Potter author JK Rowling also hit out at the new messaging on Twitter.
She wrote: "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?"
Andy Burnham, the Labour Mayor of Greater Manchester, also 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 wondered: "Stay alert? It's a deadly virus not a zebra crossing."
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".
However, ministers have defended the message today, saying that the stay-home message had "not gone away" and that it was the right move to "update and broaden" it.
Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick told Sky's Sophy Ridge that "staying at home will still be a very important part" of the governments message to the public - despite ditching the slogan.
Mr Jenrick said it was right now to "update and broaden" the message to the public as the Government tries 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 continued.
"And that means things like respecting others, remaining two metres apart, washing your hands, following the social distancing guidelines because the virus continues to be prevalent, too many people are still dying of this and we're going to have to live with it for a long time."
Pressed if there is a danger the message is 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."
No 10 was also forced to defend the slogan change by putting out a statement.
A spokesman said: "We can control the virus by keeping the rate of infection (R) and the number of infections down."
"This is how we can continue to save lives and livelihoods as we start to recover from coronavirus. Everyone has a role to play in keeping the rate of infection (R) down by staying alert and following the rules."
Wales' First Minister Mark Drakeford said: "The message I will be giving to people in Wales is while they must be alert to the continuing danger of coronavirus, if you're not out of your house for an essential purpose - and that does include exercise, it can include shopping and it must include going to work for people who can safely do so - staying at home remains the best way that you can protect yourself and others.
Mr Drakeford was asked whether he expected to see similar tweaks to England's lockdown restrictions as those announced in Wales on Friday.
"It's for the Prime Minister to make the decisions for England, not for me to advise him, but his official spokesperson has been emphasising the Prime Minister's view that maximum caution is still required at this point," he said.
"So I'm broadly expecting that the review of the regulations in England will continue to have that incremental approach to lifting the lockdown rather than anything more dramatic."
