Diary: can't fly; can't come. Prince Edward and a royal visit that never was

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/jan/30/hugh-muir-diary-prince-edward

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• The white stuff has gone but the effects are still keenly felt in Leicester, after Prince Edward cancelled his helicopter arrival there citing snow and freezing fog. He was scheduled to open De Montfort University's £8m Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Leisure Centre, visit two local colleges and unveil a plaque. And to some extent, his reasons for crying off were understood. But some, we are told, had misgivings. His aides pulled out of the event the night before, and said the "timings" meant he couldn't catch a train. But other guests were due to drive from London – why couldn't he? Professor Dominic Shellard, the vice-chancellor, was sympathetic to his plight. But he admitted to the Leicester Mercury that people were disappointed. "Staff worked through the night to contact everyone and tell them it was cancelled. Some people were leaving London at 5am to get here." And what of the plaque? It was dated 23 January. "We are going to ask the palace if we can just reuse it," said the professor. Nothing to stop His Royal Edward-ness buying a new one.

• A confusing time for mayor Boris, meanwhile. People keep getting at him. He says he doesn't know why. "You print that I'm having dinner with another international media organisation under investigation by the police," was his huffy comment to media types as Bill Gates gave the BBC's Dimbleby lecture on Tuesday evening. Tim Davie, the acting director general, patiently pointed out that the BBC isn't actually being investigated by the police. "Well, you know what I mean," said Johnson, effectively the police authority for London. "Why can't I have dinner with Rupert Murdoch but it's OK to have supper with the BBC?" He knows. That's why he keeps those meetings quiet.

• A sad day for security firm G4S as talks about providing outsourced services to police in Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire come to nothing. Still, via G4S's glossy mag International, we see a firm that likes to look on the bright side of the global security industry. They're celebrating G4S's "successful completion of a safe and secure Olympic and Paralympic Games", lauding G4S involvement in Welfare to Work. And they're highlighting the special "response force" it provides "in the event of industrial disputes or other manifestations of unrest", at Aquarius Platinum's Kroondal mine near Rustenburg, west of Pretoria. Kroondal briefly closed in a security crackdown last August after South African police shot dead 34 workers at the nearby Marikana mine. G4S has helped Kroondal with "maintaining order among the large workforce". And it is a harsh place. Workers have suffered four recorded fatalities in three years. Ever resourceful, G4S supplies all sorts – "patrol dogs", "riot control", "employee screening and vetting", and "undercover operatives". It can be a shady business, "Securing Your World".

• Different strokes in Whitehall, where Sir Bob Kerslake, head of the civil service, is feeling chipper about the way mandarins have emerged from a period of media coverage. Still, the scrutiny won't stop, he tells staff. Reform is under way. The challenges are endless. "Whilst these changes are ongoing each civil servant has to be an ambassador for the positive work that the Civil Service does," he tells them. And he sets homework. "If you haven't already read it, I would recommend to you the interview between Frances Maude, Jeremy Heywood and me in the Times (paywall) on January 16th. The only difference between us they could find was whether we preferred Yes Minister or The Thick of It!" Some will read it. Some won't. Sorry, guv. It's behind a paywall, responds one dissident. I can't afford it.

• Finally, happy days, it seems, at broker Tullett Prebon, which will apparently allow some execs to delay receiving bonuses until April to take advantage of a cut in income tax for top earners. Most unfortunate, though, for a government keen to get tough on fat cats. Particularly irritating, perhaps, for business minister Michael Fallon, until last September a non-exec director at Tullett and a past chair of its remuneration committee. Who else is there? Angela Knight, a non-exec director, member of the remuneration committee, the ex-boss of the British Bankers' Association and once the Tory MP for Erewash. Always hard to fall out with friends.

Twitter:@hugh_muir