Everything is about everything until nothing works

Joe Hill is Director of Policy at Reform and founder of the Greater London Project, a community initiative focused on London's future. A former Treasury civil servant with experience across government departments, Joe has become a leading critic of what he calls "everythingism"—the dysfunctional tendency to make every policy about every other policy, everywhere, all at once. His influential essay on this concept has gained significant traction in policy circles, offering a framework for understanding why British governance has become increasingly ineffective despite ever-expanding regulations and procedures.

Calum and Tom talk to Joe about:

• How "everythingism" manifests in absurd policy decisions like rejecting a nuclear power plant to protect Welsh language or requiring fish discos for reactor cooling systems
• The rise of plus-oneism—how individual policy advocates each adding "just one more requirement" creates an unmanageable bureaucratic morass
• Why statutory requirements like the Equalities Act and Climate Change Act have created unintended veto points that prevent sensible decision-making
• The failure of technocratic governance through quangos and how these arms-length bodies have become accountability sinks
• How social value procurement requirements waste billions by forcing contractors to prioritise secondary goals over core objectives
• The paradox of parliamentary sovereignty—how ministers have the power to cut through bureaucracy but lack the knowledge or will to do so
• Why successful government initiatives like the vaccine task force only work by exempting themselves from normal rules
• The path forward: restoring personal accountability, rejecting everythingist thinking, and accepting that good policy requires difficult trade-offs

See below for transcript and further reading. Listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Further Reading on Everythingism and British Policy Reform

If you enjoyed this episode with Joe Hill discussing the crisis of everythingism in British governance, here are some recommended resources to explore these topics further:

"Everythingism" by Joe Hill - The original essay that defines and analyses the concept of everythingism in British policymaking.

Greater London Project - Joe's community initiative and Substack focused on building a liveable future for London

Reform research - Various papers on planning reform, regulatory burden, and state capacity

Dan Davies on “The Unaccountability Machine” - Dan Davies explores the concept of unaccountability sinks

Books

"The Uses of Knowledge in Society" by F.A. Hayek - Foundational text on the limits of centralised decision-making

"The Blunders of Our Governments" by Anthony King and Ivor Crewe - Analysis of systematic failures in British government decision-making

"The British Regulatory State" by Michael Moran - Academic examination of how Britain became a hyper-regulated society

"Seeing Like a State" by James C. Scott - Classic work on why certain schemes to improve the human condition have failed

"Simple Rules for a Complex World" by Richard Epstein - Legal scholar's argument for simplicity in law and regulation

"The Death of Common Sense" by Philip K. Howard - How bureaucratic rules have replaced human judgment in governance

"Why Government Fails So Often" by Peter Schuck - Analysis of the structural reasons for policy failure