Wolfgang Pauli, who won the Nobel prize for physics in 1945, had zero tolerance for balderdash, mathematical or any other kind.

One of his responses when asked for his opinion on a paper produced by a poor postgraduate physics student has become famous. Pauli said: “It’s not even wrong.”

The phrase has come to be applied to arguments or explanations that purport to be sensible but use fallacious reasoning or speculative premises. It’s also called a category error.

Pauli’s judgement applies perfectly to Naomi Long’s attempt to dodge a question from the audience in last week’s BBC NI debate asking what is the point of being in the UK, and criticism that Alliance ‘sit on the fence’ on the topic.

Brian Feeney: ‘Uniting the community’ is Alliance’s category error

Every voter should make their voice heard at the ballot box - The Irish News view

Long replied: “We don’t sit on the fence. We have a strong position. We are in favour of a united community in Northern Ireland. That is our priority policy. We cannot have a united Ireland or a United Kingdom while this place remains divided.”

There you have it. That’s not even wrong. As you can readily see, it’s a category error.

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