Letter to Daily Mail about an English warship

Dear Sir,

I read with interest your article about The Golden Galleon in Saturday's Daily Mail.

However there is one glaring mistake - it refers to the ship as part of a British Fleet. The vessel sank in 1694 some thirteen years before the creation of Great Britain. Therefore the ship was English, as is confirmed in the accompanying picture that clearly shows the English Red Ensign flying on its stern.

I have no doubt that the Scottish Chancellor of the Exchequer currently charged with looking after the English economy will happily make the same mistake as your paper. No doubt he will utilise some of the monies received from the salvage on spending to benefit the people of Scotland despite the fact that it was actually English gold.

Yours faithfully,

Edward Higginbottom