This is the rough transcript of Toby‘s talk at the solidarity event for anarchist prisoners on August 31st, 2025, at BASE social centre in Easton, Bristol, UK.
Hi everyone
Welcome to BASE social centre, I’m Toby Shone, I’m an anarchist ex-prisoner from the Forest of Dean. I was in the Operation Adream case, which was a co-ordinated international police operation which involved British, Dutch and German police, at least, we could say. I spent three years in various prisons in UK, mostly under 23 hour lockdown in conditions of solitary confinement. I also had 9 months in a secure bail hostel under anti-terrorist restrictions, and 3 months of bail conditions where I had to sign every day at a police station in the Forest.
I want to thank BASE for giving me this opportunity to talk. I’m not going to talk at length. And I want to properly thank all the comrades in Bristol who supported me during my imprisonment. The last time I was here for the International Week of Solidarity event, which was in 2023, I was out on license. As you probably know, the Counter-Terror Police South West had a surveillance team outside, and this event was a major reason cited by the National Security Division for my subsequent abduction back to prison. I have the surveillance report here from the police, so you can see the material on BASE, see the angle where the police took the surveillance photograph from, and see how the Counter-Terror Police South-West regard us. So it gives me great pleasure to be here with you all, to remember our prisoners and write them letters, to eat and exchange with everyone. It has a lot of meaning for me to be here and speak to you. Continue reading “Bristol, UK: Transcript of a talk by anarchist comrade Toby Shone at BASE for International Week of Solidarity with Anarchist Prisoners, August 2025”