An immigration speech by Home Secretary Amber Rudd, pictured, was logged by police as a 'hate incident,' it was revealed today

A speech on immigration by the Home Secretary was recorded by police as a ‘hate incident’ after a complaint by an Oxford don who had not even heard it.

Amber Rudd used her address to the Tory conference in October to propose tougher rules for immigrant workers and foreign students to ensure those from abroad were ‘not taking jobs British people could do’.

She said the proposals would help the Government to examine ‘whether we should tighten the test companies have to take before recruiting from abroad’.

She announced a consultation on plans to force businesses to set out the proportion of their staff recruited from abroad, but this proposal was later dropped.

At the time, Miss Rudd batted away criticism from the Left over the speech, saying she had been ‘very thoughtful’ in wording it and that ‘we should be able to have a conversation about immigration’.

But Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said she wanted to force companies to ‘draw up lists of foreign workers’ and claimed the Tories were ‘fanning the flames of xenophobia and hatred’.

Oxford Professor Joshua Silver reported the Home Secretary to the police, claiming her comments were ‘probably not lawful’ because they were intended to make Britain less tolerant towards foreigners.

Yesterday one of Miss Rudd’s predecessors united with human rights activist Peter Tatchell to condemn the academic’s action.

In her keynote address to the Conservative party conference in Birmingham in October, Amber Rudd set out measures to control immigration by forcing firms to reveal how many of their staff are foreign

Prof Silver, a physicist, told the Daily Mail some of Miss Rudd’s phraseology reminded him of the tone of Adolf Hitler’s autobiography Mein Kampf, but failed to back up the assertion.

He said: ‘Some of our senior politicians speak about foreigners in a way… which is almost designed to make this tolerant nation less tolerant towards foreigners. I thought that is probably not lawful.’ He contacted West Midlands Police after reading Press coverage of the speech and consulting a draft of it, as well as monitoring ‘feedback’ it generated online.

While officers were tied up examining his complaint, the force was battling a wave of stabbings, with 12 incidents in Birmingham in October alone, the month when Miss Rudd addressed her party conference.

Yesterday Prof Silver told BBC2’s Daily Politics show Miss Rudd had made comments that ‘discriminated against foreigners’ but admitted he had not heard the speech after being grilled by presenter Andrew Neil.

Prof Silver was slapped down on the programme by former home secretary Michael Howard, who said Miss Rudd’s comments were ‘no different’ from those of Gordon Brown when he called for ‘British jobs for British workers’ as prime minister in 2008.

Lord Howard added: ‘Of course it wasn’t a hate incident. Mr Silver should be thoroughly ashamed of himself. The meaning behind the legislation is very important. It’s meant to deal with hate crimes, and Mr Silver has been totally unable to justify what he’s done in the face of your questioning and is bringing that legislation into disrepute.’

Mr Tatchell, director of the Peter Tatchell Foundation, which campaigns for human rights, said: ‘Even though many people would disagree with Rudd’s comments, they clearly do not constitute a hate crime.

‘Throwing these accusations around frivolously demeans and devalues genuine hate crime that causes people real suffering.’

West Midlands Police said it had assessed the academic’s complaint but it had not been formally investigated. It has written to Prof Silver saying the inquiry is over and the matter ‘recorded in line with the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s manual as a non-crime hate incident’.

A police spokesman said he was not aware of the force receiving any other complaints over Miss Rudd’s comments.

Prof Silver said he was satisfied with the police response but had not ruled out taking legal advice with a view to ‘further action’.

The Home Office said: ‘This was not a hate crime. The Home Secretary has been crystal clear that hatred has no place in a Britain that works for everyone.

‘She’s made countering hate one of her key priorities – indeed, one of the first public interventions she made was to launch the Hate Crime Action Plan.’

Yesterday the Lib Dems’ home affairs spokesman Alistair Carmichael said: ‘I do have concerns over whether the police should be investigating a politician’s speech, but Amber Rudd should investigate her conscience over these grubby and divisive remarks.’