<p>It’s just common courtesy to use the proper name of a country, even if you’re being specific to the southern half of it. England hasn’t been a sovereign state since before the USA was founded, so there’s really no excuse at all for not using its correct name. If British people want to refer to individual parts of the UK with regional names, that’s their choice - but in an international context (like here) you should say Britain or the UK.</p>