The government has attempted to explain what their new slogan on coronavirus means after it has already been subjected to widespread ridicule.
The slogan which was previously 'stay home, save lives, protect the NHS' is set to be changed this evening to 'stay alert, control the virus, save lives.'
However, the new branding is already being called vague and confusing so it was left to Robert Jenrick, the secretary of state for housing, communities and local government to offer a broader explanation.
Appearing on Sky News' Sophy Ridge on Sunday the 38-year-old said that the message means:
Stay alert by staying home as much as possible, but stay alert when you do go out by maintaining social distancing, washing your hands, respecting others at work.
Ridge then questioned if this message was so vague that it was bordering on being 'meaningless.'
My point is that 'stay alert' is so vague that it borders on being meaningless.
You could 'stay alert' by staying at home, you could 'stay alert' by going to work, you could 'stay alert' while having 20 of your friends over for a party.
Is there not a danger that this is so wooly that it could apply to anything?
Jenrick's simple reply was that he 'hopes not' and believes that the message to the public now needs to be updated as they "slowly and cautiously want to restart the economy and the country."
This added explanation to what 'stay alert' actually means has only caused more confusion, with Piers Morgan branding it 'gibberish.'
Just utter incomprehensible dangerous jibberish. https://t.co/jJ3w1gEvcI— Piers Morgan (@Piers Morgan) 1589102390
"Stay alert by staying home as much as possible." https://t.co/WfAciKbbmo— Jim Rossignol (@Jim Rossignol) 1589102772
Catchy https://t.co/qifWaSRjhx https://t.co/7MgdpOkEu1— Calgie (@Calgie) 1589102891
Robert Jenrick on the #Ridge show this morning was asked. Is the "stay alert" message so woolly as to be meaningle… https://t.co/ZnCg6GtPeE— Jon Jones (@Jon Jones) 1589097300
Significant @SophyRidgeSky interview from @RobertJenrick The cabinet minister tells @SkyNews the ‘stay at home’… https://t.co/sGCYPZRLuN— Sam Coates Sky (@Sam Coates Sky) 1589102542
How can ‘stay alert’ mean ‘stay at home as much as possible’? (copyright @RobertJenrick) Stay at home means sta… https://t.co/5GEg3jSJPT— Victoria Derbyshire (@Victoria Derbyshire) 1589101783
During his appearance on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show, later that morning, Jenrick gave a much more succinct answer by saying that stay alert means 'stay alert by staying at home.'
Although it sounds like Robert Jenrick had to give Robert Jenrick a stiff talking to, meaning an hour later elsewhe… https://t.co/dXITndjqmU— Sam Coates Sky (@Sam Coates Sky) 1589103217
Ian Blackford, the SNP's Westminster leader accused the government and Jenrick of spreading 'mixed messages' and that the 'stay at home' slogan must remain.
Mixed messages and muddled thinking from @10DowningStreet about #StayAlert as shown by @RobertJenrick on #marr this… https://t.co/76fNkJwaaN— Ian Blackford (@Ian Blackford) 1589101719
Ministers from both Scotland and Wales have added that their messages to the public will remain 'stay at home.'
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 appr… https://t.co/85HodekxJJ— Nicola Sturgeon (@Nicola Sturgeon) 1589097324
I’ve seen the media briefings and changed message for England. There has not been a 4 nations agreement or discussi… https://t.co/a2np37XXIi— Vaughan Gething (@Vaughan Gething) 1589101775
At the time of writing, more than 31,000 people have reportedly died from coronavirus in the UK which is the second-highest death toll in the world behind the United States.