Clarity of geographic scope in messaging

¶12.70. The UK government's announcements often failed sufficiently to explain whether they applied to all four nations or to England alone.¹¹⁶¹¹⁶ INQ000235213_0025 para 78; INQ000280190_0004 para 10; INQ000273783_0030 para 157 There was a further complication for Northern Ireland, given the availability of media from both the UK and the Republic of Ireland – a factor that was recognised as having the potential to confuse public messaging in Northern Ireland.¹¹⁷¹¹⁷ Michelle O'Neill 14 May 2024 97/12-98/3; INQ000255838_0035-0036 para 130; INQ000412903_0083 para 268; INQ000381512_0022 para 115

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¶12.71. One example was the UK government running the Stay Alert message across the UK, despite this messaging relating to the removal of restrictions in England only. Ms Sturgeon explained that she had asked the UK government not to run the Stay Alert campaign in Scotland in order to avoid the risk of confusion with the Scottish Government's message to "stay at home full stop".¹¹⁸¹¹⁸ 'Coronavirus (COVID-19) update: First Minister's speech 10 May 2020', Scottish Government, 10 May 2020 (https://www.gov.scot/ publications/coronavirus-covid-19-update-first-ministers-speech-10-2020; INQ000354339_0006); INQ000339033_0027 para 64. At that time, the Scottish Government's messaging was often more cautious, largely to reflect the relative caution about lockdown release and the Scottish Government's desire to pursue a maximum suppression, 'zero Covid' strategy.Show full note Ms O'Neill suggested that the UK government's change to the Stay Alert campaign:

" created confusion, because it wasn't always clear within the devolved populations, that the messaging was exclusively directed at England".¹¹⁹¹¹⁹ INQ000273783_0031 para 159

¶12.72. Similarly, Mr Drakeford made it clear at a COBR meeting on 10 May 2020 that, if Mr Johnson decided to pursue the Stay Alert campaign, he must be very clear that this was a decision made for England alone.¹²⁰¹²⁰ Mark Drakeford 13 March 2024 111/18-23 Mr Drakeford told the Inquiry that, in the press conference announcing the move to the Stay Alert message, Mr Johnson did not provide the clarity of messaging that Mr Drakeford had expected following their discussion at the COBR meeting.¹²¹¹²¹ Mark Drakeford 13 March 2024 111/5-23

¶12.73. Mr Mason told the Inquiry that, when the divergence in messaging on this issue became apparent, the Cabinet Office made some efforts to restrict media buying to England only.¹²²¹²² INQ000340123_0014 para 56 However, the Cabinet Office had purchased high-profile 'cover wraps' for several UK newspapers to promote the new Stay Alert campaign. As very few of these newspapers had Welsh-specific editions, there was no practical means of differentiating between the different messages in the different nations.¹²³¹²³ INQ000340123_0015 para 59

¶12.74. Despite requests on behalf of the devolved administrations, the UK government continued with a UK-wide approach to communicating the Stay Alert campaign from May 2020, which included television advertising and newspaper advertorials running in the devolved nations.¹²⁴¹²⁴ INQ000340123_0014-0015 paras 53-56, 59 The campaign also included social media messaging, which, by its nature, cut across the UK's internal borders and made UK government messaging visible in all four nations.¹²⁵¹²⁵ INQ000605487; INQ000605486

¶12.75. In continuing to run the Stay Alert campaign in all four nations, the UK government risked undermining the continued advice to stay at home in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The UK government should not have continued to run its Stay Alert campaign in the devolved nations; or, at the very least, the campaign should have been very clear that it was related to England alone. The UK government's approach risked causing public confusion as to the geographical extent of restrictions.

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¶12.76. The Inquiry was told that there was awareness of the need for increased collaboration on communications among the four nations after the experience of the Stay Alert campaign in May 2020. A group was established through which the directors of communications in the four nations could communicate.¹²⁶¹²⁶ Toby Mason 7 March 2024 80/9-12 This group provided a forum in which campaign materials could be shared and discussed in advance.¹²⁷¹²⁷ Toby Mason 7 March 2024 70/22-71/11 However, the Inquiry heard no clear evidence that this group improved on the issue of unclear messaging.

¶12.77. Professor Ailsa Henderson, expert witness on devolution and the UK's response to Covid-19, found only one example, in all the press conferences in 2020 and 2021, of a UK government announcement setting out both the relevant requirements in England and how they varied in the devolved nations. That one example was when Mr Hancock launched the NHS Test and Trace service on 27 May 2020. Prior to this, in the initial months, there was almost no mention of the devolved nations.¹²⁸¹²⁸ INQ000269372_0049-0050 paras 151-152 Professor Paul Cairney, expert witness on Scottish Government core decision-making and political governance, also observed that it was often unclear from UK government briefings whether communications regarding 'Britain' – which includes England, Scotland and Wales – only referred to England.¹²⁹¹²⁹ INQ000274154_0074-0075 para 210(c) This was compounded by the frequent use of the phrase "this country" in press conferences to refer, variously, to England, Britain or the UK (which includes England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland).¹³⁰¹³⁰ INQ000269372_0049 para 151 Subsequently, the typical approach observed by Professor Henderson was to outline that the guidance was:

" for England alone but that the devolved administrations would offer their own guidance in due course".¹³¹¹³¹ INQ000269372_0049-0050 para 152

¶12.78. The risk of public confusion was such that, on 26 May 2020, the communications services regulator, Ofcom, issued an advisory note requesting that broadcasters take particular care to make listeners and viewers aware of the different approaches being taken in the four nations.¹³²¹³² INQ000269372_0049 para 150 The onus to clarify announcements should have been on the UK government rather than on broadcasters. In future pandemics, the UK government should take care to set out the geographical application of its announcements specifically and avoid using imprecise language.