Year in review: Our pick of this year’s best Premium features, columns and essays

The war in Ukraine entered its second year and a devastating conflict between Israel and Gaza was unleashed, with no end in sight for either. But there was lightness elsewhere with the big screen Barbenheimer battle — and Elton John’s unforgettable Glastonbury swansong

(iStock/Getty/Netflix/Warner Bros)

January

• The government should declare a national emergency in the NHS
• Boris Johnson is strong enough to wound, but not powerful enough to conquer
• Has Davos outlived its usefulness?

‘The Independent’ raised the alarm about the deadly impact of ambulance and emergency care delays in January (PA)

February

• ‘Learn fast or you’ll be dead’: The bloody stalemate on Ukraine’s front line
• Refugees, mass graves and liberation: A year on the ground in Ukraine – in pictures from The Independent’s Bel Trew
• Now we know why Nicola Sturgeon resigned – SNP support has collapsed

Tetiana, whose son died fighting in Bakhmut, is hugged and comforted by a friend as they mark the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (Bel Trew)

March

• The road to war in Iraq: Bush, Blair, intelligence failures and the lying game
• When it comes to immigration, we all need to choose our words more carefully
• Thunderbird Hunt and the mystery of the 4 Es

Suella Braverman attracted regular controversy over her language about immigrants. Rishi Sunak fired her as Home Secretary in November (Reuters)

April

• It is now for those at the top of government to deliver justice for Afghan war heroes
• For President Biden’s Ireland visit, the UK feels like a third wheel
• How Boris Johnson – and Brexit – almost unravelled the Good Friday Agreement

Boris Johnson’s reckless suggestion that the Irish border would not be a problem as he sought to ‘get Brexit done’ came close to causing irreparable damage to the Good Friday Agreement, according to the Independent’s Sean O’Grady (Getty/The Independent)

May

• Keir Starmer campaigned against Brexit and lost. Will ‘Bregretful’ voters now reward him?
• Why we need to be talking about a hung parliament
• Where’s Phillip Schofield gone? Are we even allowed to ask?

Phillip Schofield, who left ITV show ‘This Morning’ in May, admitted to lying about an affair with a young male co-worker (Rex Features)

June

• The ghost of Boris Johnson will continue to haunt the Tories for a long time
• In the wake of mutiny, Putin’s weakened but far from finished
• The sun is going down on the Glastonbury golden oldie – we may never see Elton’s like again

Sir Elton John at Glastonbury this year. He said the set would be his last concert in the UK (PA)

July

• Was Oppenheimer really the ‘father’ of the atomic bomb?
• How Barbie made me rethink why I hate pink
• Forget Cerberus – these heatwaves will soon be Britain’s new normal

The film ‘Barbie’ has been one of the unexpected cinematic hits of this year (Warner Bros)

August

• Wagner mercenaries issue a chilling message on Poland’s doorstep: ‘We are here’
• Putin’s hit list: from poisoned tea to mysterious falls, the grisly fate of the Kremlin’s enemies
• Is the World Cup kiss Spain’s Me Too moment?
• Footage of Holocaust miracle rescue unearthed for the first time
• Trump’s mugshot was a theatrical masterstroke with a showman’s flair for the outrageous

Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Russian mercenary group Wagner, died in a plane crash in August two months after a mutiny by his forces in Ukraine threatened the authority of President Vladimir Putin (Reuters)

September

• A modern monarch in a hurry – inside the court of King Charles
• Why Macron doesn’t want to drop the (oval-shaped) ball
• I was Russell Brand’s biographer – and I can tell you his dad has a lot to answer for
• Daniel Khalife’s escape follows a rich – and troubled – history of prison breaks

Russell Brand denied allegations of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse made against the British comedian and actor earlier this year. (PA)

October

• Seven days that shook the world: how the horror of Hamas – and Israel’s revenge – unfolded
• Bibi on the brink: Can Netanyahu survive a growing chorus of disapproval?
• I spent seven years talking to Jimmy Savile – it was all a game for him, a twisted thrill
• Wipeout: from partygate to election apocalypse — the lies and cowardice that detonated the Tory party
• It’s time to exorcise the ghosts of our great railway stations

Andrew Grice wrote for the Independent about the impossible hand dealt to Rishi Sunak that has set the Conservative Party up for general election oblivion (Getty)

November

• Armistice Day is no time for a war of civilisations
• The Trump family drama is the real Succession – and now the kids can decide their father’s fate
• I was there for Diana and Dodi’s summer of love – and it wasn’t like The Crown

Diana, Princess of Wales (played by Elizabeth Debicki) and Dodi Fayed (Khalid Abdalla) in the sixth series of The Crown on Netflix (PA)

December

• Keeping up with the Johnsons: what Boris and Carrie have been up to (and what they plan next)
• The Henry Kissinger I knew was a dazzling intellect right until the end
• The UK and US are climate hypocrites – why do we expect oil states to be any better?
• Shane MacGowan was a chaotic hellraiser and a natural storyteller who could give you a whole life in a handful of lines

Shane MacGowan died on November 30, aged 65 (PA)