As a proud Welsh Asian woman who has experienced hate crime, I found myself looking on in horror as a middle class white man, Oxford Physics Professor Joshua Silver, reported Home Secretary Amber Rudd’s 2016 Conservative conference speech as a hate crime. The police have since recorded the speech as a “non-hate crime incident”.

At the annual Tory event Rudd said: “I want us to look again at whether our immigration system provides the right incentives for businesses to invest in British workers.” Silver felt that this was, “discriminating against foreigners”. The hate crime I myself experienced were very different and I feel that the recognition provided by the police diminishes the very real and sometimes violent experiences of individuals across the UK who are affected by these incidents.

Amber Rudd argues British firms should favour employing British workers

The emotional scars of being made to feel like the “other” are not something that fade easily. I was once accosted on a train by a drunk man who saw fit to recite a passage from Enoch Powell’s infamous rivers of blood speech at me, while proceeding to tell me that people like me have taken jobs away from him. Another time, during a road incident, a man got out of his car, and started banging on my bonnet calling me the p-word, and more. This is hate crime; a disagreement over policy ideas between a politician and a member of the public is not.

Let’s be clear, I am a child of East African Asian migrants who made a life in Wales after being expelled from Uganda in 1971, by the dictatorial Idi Amin. We are all Conservative voters, we haven’t agreed with all speeches at Conservative Party Conference, but the idea that disagreement equals hate crime is nonsense.

The Government doesn’t always get it right when it comes to our diverse communities. However, they do back track when they get it wrong; plans to force companies to reveal foreign staff numbers were abandoned as quickly as they were foolishly uttered. Yet this ‘hate incident’ remains on the record, as national police reporting rules introduced in 2014 require all complaints of hate crime incidents to be recorded “regardless of whether or not those making the complaint are the victim and irrespective of whether or not there is any evidence to identify the hate crime incident”.

Brexit racism and the fightback Show all 9 1 /9 Brexit racism and the fightback Brexit racism and the fightback Demonstrators protest against an increase in post-ref racism at London's March for Europe in July 2016 PA Brexit racism and the fightback These cards were found near a school in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, the day after the EU referendum Twitter/@howgilb Brexit racism and the fightback LONDON, UK - JULY 16 : A speaker addresses the EDL members at Hyde Park. About a hundred members of The English Defence League (EDL) march on Park Lane for a rally in Hyde Park. The march on 16 July 2016 was heavily policed keeping the group away from the public. (Photo by David Mbiyu/Corbis via Getty Images) Getty Brexit racism and the fightback Romford, Essex, June 25 @diamondgeezer Brexit racism and the fightback A worker at this Romanian food shop was asleep upstairs at the time of this arson attack in Norwich on July 8, but escaped unharmed. Hundreds later participated in a ‘love bombing’ rally outside the shop to express their opposition to racism and their support of the shop owners. JustGiving/Helen Linehan Brexit racism and the fightback This neo-Nazi sticker was spotted in Glasgow on June 26 Courtesy of Eoin Palmer Brexit racism and the fightback But after news emerged of neo-Nazi stickers appearing in Glasgow, some in the city struck back with slogans of their own. Courtesy of Eoin Palmer Brexit racism and the fightback The Peoples Assembly Against Austerity, Black Live Matters and The Socialist Workers Party organised a march on Saturday July 16th in London, United Kingdom, against austerity, cuts and Racism. The groups also marched in solidarity against Tory government policies. (Photo by Gail Orenstein/NurPhoto via Getty Images) Getty Brexit racism and the fightback More signs began to appear in some parts of the UK, created by people who wanted to show their opposition to post-referendum racism Courtesy of Bernadette Russell

The question for me is, why can’t we have a conversation about immigration? To have this discussion isn’t racist or xenophobic and yet the liberal sense of political correctness thrust upon us all has seen people turn away from the mainstream political parties. This has meant the understandable rise of Ukip across the UK. Whether Rudd was right or not, at least she was attempting to start a conversation about how this might look with regard to immigration and employment.