SOCIAL media accounts ran by the Scotland Office took down the Stay at Home messaging from their header images yesterday, it has emerged.
While Boris Johnson announced on Sunday that the messaging in England was changing to “stay alert, control the virus, save lives”, the devolved nations have maintained their Stay at Home campaign.
The “UK Government Scotland” Facebook and Twitter accounts had the “stay home, protect the NHS, save lives” message as their cover photos from the beginning of the UK-wide lockdown – but yesterday afternoon removed them and replaced them with a general “coronavirus: protect yourself and others” image.
READ MORE: Devolved nations reject Westminster's new 'stay alert' slogan
The graphic dates back from before the lockdown and shows germs on a door handle to encourage people to maintain good hand washing practices.
The UK Government Scotland Facebook account states its represents “Scottish interests in the UK and UK interests in Scotland”. It also says it is managed by the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland.
The devolved nations have rejected the removal of the Stay at Home removal, with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon warning dropping it could cost lives.
Speaking at one of her daily conferences, Nicola Sturgeon said: “I have asked the UK Government not to deploy their ‘stay alert’ advertising campaign in Scotland.
“Because the message in Scotland at this stage is not stay at home if you can, the message is, except for the essential reasons you know about, stay at home full stop.”
She added: “I am clear that for Scotland, at this present moment, relaxing too many restrictions too quickly creates the risk that the virus will take off again. I am not prepared to take that risk.”
Addressing the change of header image, a UK Government spokesperson said: "Although we have confronted this virus as one United Kingdom, it has spread at different rates across the country and the response needs to be flexible.
"We will continue to run UK Government advertising where it complements the positions of the devolved administrations - for example on testing and symptoms.
“The UK Government is supporting the devolved governments with testing, funding and logistical support from our armed forces. No one part of the UK could face this pandemic alone, and the UK Government has provided unprecedented support to every part of the UK."
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