as the way the story went I am very inclined to believe that it was copy/paste article which was not even thoroughly examined. It is a small eror you pointed out but big enough to demonstrate that the author hastily published, not correcting out the detail/s.
My assumption here - I could be wrong.
The other alternative that comes to mind is that in UK the education system is surely not what it should be, and the general public in that country / kingdom posseses the wrong information about the world which lies beyond the murky waters surrounding the great island.

Journalism!? You never know what is true!