ALISTER Jack has insisted that the British public "completely understand" Westminster's "stay alert" message.

The Scottish Secretary made the statement at a Scottish Affairs Committee meeting this afternoon when he was asked about Boris Johnson dropping the "stay at home" slogan for "stay alert, control the virus and save lives".

READ MORE: People can’t get over how bad the UK Government’s new coronavirus slogan is

SNP MP Pete Wishart asked: "Could you tell us a little bit more then what 'stay alert' actually means?

"I went out for a walk yesterday, I'm usually quite an alert person, and I'm pretty certain I was staying alert. Is there anything in particular I should have done? When the Prime Minister was asked what this meant he said it's about exercising good old British common sense but what does that mean? Are there people in Scotland whose common sense is more British than others?"

Jack said the "stay alert" message is "simple".

He responded: "Well luckily the British public are showing that they do have a lot of common sense because they completely understand what it means. It means what the First Minister has been saying for the last few days – stay alert and stay vigilant. You should only go to work – and this is an English measure not a Scottish measure I'm giving you now – you should only go to work if you cannot work from home.

"You should apply all social distancing when you're at work. You should work in a Covid-safe environment obviously. You should continue to wash your hands and do all the other sensible things we've suggested and you should stay alert to the risks, it's as simple as that."