Clarke :sx I'd have quit if Maggie stayed .sx by Political Correspondent .sx EDUCATION Secretary Kenneth Clarke confirmed yesterday that he would have resigned from the Government if Mrs Thatcher had carried on in power .sx " I did reach the conclusion that I probably was going to resign ; indeed I would have resigned had she gone on , " he said on the Channel 4 Pursuit of Power programme .sx During the Tory leadership crisis last autumn , Mr Clarke advised Mrs Thatcher to stand down for the sake of the party .sx " I advised her that she should not go on and in my opinion she ought to step down , " he said yesterday .sx " I acted on the principle that if you are serving a friend as your boss , what you owe that boss is your candid , truthful , non self-interested advice .sx " .sx By hanging on , he said , Mrs Thatcher would have destroyed the authority of both the Government and the party .sx Under the leadership of someone else , both could recover .sx " I think we were in the position of generals persuading Napoleon to leave the field of battle at Waterloo , " said Mr Clarke .sx " At the end of the first ballot , to go on and to win this battle by a small majority - I did not even think she would win it , I thought she would lose it - would have meant her authority was broken .sx " .sx Disagreed " But a proper contest , with a successor coming in , restored the authority of the premiership , the leadership of the party , and the Government .sx " .sx He did not tell Mrs Thatcher directly that he would quit if she refused to go but he claimed she knew his intentions .sx " I am sure she did ; " he said .sx He had always enjoyed working alongside Mrs Thatcher on a " very candid basis " .sx " It was not uncomfortable in the Thatcher Government .sx It was fun , she was a very dynamic leader , and it was extremely entertaining to work alongside her if you did not mind having a robust leader .sx She made us take very courageous decisions .sx " .sx He disagreed , however , with her dicision , in the wake of Sir Geoffrey Howe's resignation , to switch him from the Department of Health and into Education .sx She believed that the battle over NHS reforms had been won but he tried to persuade her against a move .sx Power to the people to win better service .sx By JOHN DEANS .sx JOHN MAJOR will launch a Tory offensive today by unveiling his long-awaited Citizens' Charter .sx Its 50-plus proposals amount to a dynamic bid to strengthen people-power in Britain .sx Local authorities and public service companies will be forced to raise standards or risk paying compensation .sx For the first time , individuals or consumer groups facing the shutdown of a vital council service , like refuse collection , will be able to take civil court action over the threat .sx Contempt Courts will have the twin powers of issuing an injuction to stop an illegal dispute and ordering a council to maintain essential services .sx It means that a Left-wing authority which refuses to crack down on industrial action can be legally forced to do so or face stiff fines for contempt .sx The Charter will also strengthen the powers of the watchdog bodies overseeing privatised water , gas and electricity companies .sx They will be able to consider financial compensation for consumers hit by prolonged disruption of supplies or a severe fall in standards .sx British Rail season ticket holders who suffer from persistently poor services will qualify for free-travel vouchers .sx Labour has accused ministers of trying to water down Mr Major's original plans for the charter .sx But one senior minister said last night :sx " The launch will show they have actually been beefed up .sx At the moment there is virtually nothing the individual can do if public services break down .sx Under the charter people will have more power in their hands .sx " .sx The charter is the key weapon in a new Tory initiative designed to build on the party's continuing popularity revival and Mr Major's own strong voter support , particularly after his success at the G7 summit .sx The plans outlined today will be amplified in mini-charters from individual departments - plus a 'handy guide' which may be distributed to households .sx The latest Harris poll , published by the Observer yesterday , confirmed the recent trend in Mr Major's favour , slicing Labour's lead to only 3 per cent , and showing the Tories picking up support from both Neil Kinnock's party and Paddy Ashdown's Liberal Democrats .sx The survey gives Labour 42 per cent and Tories 39 , with the Liberal Democrats struggling at 14 per cent .sx Despite such encouragement , the Premier gave a strong signal yesterday that he is still planning for a 1992 election , rather than one this autumn .sx In a newspaper interview , he emphasised the importance of bringing negotiations on the future of the European Community to a conclusion at the next EC summit , in December .sx He declared :sx " I don't intend to take any risks of having any other party negotiate at those inter - governmental conferences that will be so important to Britain's future .sx " .sx With the Tory attack looming , Labour fired off a pre-emptive broadside yesterday .sx Shadow chancellor John Smith said the claim that Britain will be out of recession by Christmas was " bogus" , and environment spokesman Bryan Gould said the Government had run out of ideas .sx Shadow transport secretary John Prescott will today unveil Labour's plans to make BR run on time by threatening to sack managers who fail to meet standards of quality and reliability .sx The buck stops here , pledges water supremo .sx by DOMINIC KENNEDY .sx THE head of the water company at the centre of the contamination scare spoke yesterday of his anguish over " this rotten affair " .sx And Sir John Page insisted :sx " The buck stops here .sx " .sx The former Tory MP , who is chairman of Three Valleys Water Services , said :sx " Ever since six this morning I have been wandering about worrying like hell .sx This is a very serious affair .sx It is the unthinkable , that untreated water should go out .sx Our team is completely overwhelmed by this awful event .sx " .sx Sir John was out at a dinner party when the contamination was confirmed .sx He could not be contacted and learned of the developments only when he returned in the early hours of Sunday to his home in Taplow , Buckinghamshire .sx He woke at 6am and listened to radio news bulletins about the pollution , then visited the company HQ in Rickmansworth before returning home .sx " I want to get the whole thing operationally right , " he said .sx " For the next 24 hours I'm going to be at the end of the telephone and probably at very frequent meetings .sx " .sx Inquiry Sir John , former MP for Harrow West , retired at the last General Election after 27 years .sx His successor Robert Hughes , whose constituents have been affected by the scare , pulled no punches yesterday .sx " While we all appreciate accidents can happen , water is now an expensive commodity for all of my constituents and such an accident is completely unacceptable , " said Mr Hughes .sx " I demand a full public inquiry into the activities of the company and will be seeking a debate in Parliament .sx " .sx Reports that the company failed to warn consumers until several hours after the fault was detected should be investigated urgently , added Mr Hughes .sx Sir John said :sx " I think the concern of Robert Hughes is appropriate and completely legitimate .sx I intend to speak to him as soon as possible .sx We have nothing to hide .sx " .sx Asked whether the company would compensate families who have paid for bottled water he said :sx " We haven't thought about that detail as yet .sx " .sx Sir John's involvement with the water industry began nine years ago when he became a director of Colne Valley Water Company .sx He became chairman three years before it merged with the neighbouring suppliers , Lee Valley Water Company and Rickmansworth Water Company , in 1990 .sx The merger , creating the seventh-largest UK water company , was approved by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission .sx The French giant Compagnie Generale des Eaux , which already owned 28 per cent of Colne , 16 per cent of Rickmansworth and the whole of Lee , bought the newly-merged company .sx CGE is the largest water group in the world , and has interests in waste disposal , funeral services , utilities and construction .sx The area covered by Three Valleys was unaffected by the privatisation of the water industry .sx Its water has been traditionally supplied by the private sector .sx The three smaller water companies still exist , and are known to customers by their old names .sx Their boards of directors are identical :sx Jim McGown is chairman , and Robert Simpson is deputy chairman .sx They also have two non-executive directors , Peter Darby , head of finance , and Richard Medhurst , head of water quality .sx They are subsidiaries of Three Valleys , which is chaired by Sir John .sx Its directors include Mr McGown and Mr Simpson , plus Jean-Claude Banon from General Utilities , the London branch of Compagnie Generale des Eaux .sx The other directors all served with the three old companies .sx They are Jim Bolton , former chairman of Lee Valley , John Hasledene , former director of Colne Valley and Lee Valley , Michael Ross-Collins , former director of Rickmansworth and Colne Valley , Jean-Pierre Tardieu , former director of Lee Valley , and John Paterson , former director of Lee Valley .sx Mr McGown , Mr Simpson , Mr Bolton and Mr Ross-Collins all live in the area supplied by Three Valleys Water Services .sx CGE's British water companies also include North Surrey , Folkestone and Tendring Hundred .sx Major on top of the world .sx By JOHN DEANS , Political Correspondent JOHN MAJOR returned from triumph on the world stage last night to deliver his most upbeat economic forecast yet .sx After winning hearts in Moscow and a grudging respect in Peking , he turned his attention to domestic agenda which is looking increasingly favourable .sx " We are beginning to see the economy turning round , " he said .sx " That has an effect on expectations and behaviour .sx People begin to spend again , which means the economy begins to grow and there is a general virtuous circle .sx " Although voicing regret about unemployment , he forecast that inflation would be down to 4 per cent by the end of the year and recession would soon be a thing of the past .sx But on the speculation about a possible November election the Premier remained cool .sx " I'm in no particular rush , " he said .sx His confidence was echoed by Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd , who flew home from Hongkong with him and declared later :sx " A fourth term of government is firmly within our grasp .sx The most striking indicator is the increased optimism among ordinary voters .sx They are now more optimistic about the economy than at any time in the past three years .sx " .sx While the history-making may be over for now , there will be no let up in Mr Major's itinerary .sx He and his wife Norma spend the weekend with the Queen at Balmoral , followed by a two-day tour of Scotland where Tory constituencies remain vulnerable .sx On Wednesday , the Premier flies to Paris for talks with President Mitterand and meetings with leaders from Russia and the newly-emerging democracies of Eastern Europe .sx After that , he embarks on a programme of visits to marginal constituencies around Britain .sx While careful not to rule out the autumn option completely , the Prime Minster has made it clear that one high priority is to ensure that he represents Britain in the next stage of negotiations on European union in December .sx The latest popularity research brought more bad news for the Labour Party last night .sx The Newsnight poll of polls , analysing four of the main recent surveys , put the Conservatives one point ahead and showed 60 per cent of the electorate satisfied with John Major's performance .sx Dropped The result did not take into account yesterday's Gallup poll , which gave the Tories a 4.5 per cent lead , or the latest fall in interest rates .sx Newsnight gave the Tories 41 per cent , three per cent up since the last similar survey , while Labour dropped back three points .sx The Liberal Democrats gained one , to 15 per cent .sx Backing for Mr Major increased by six points while dissatisfaction with Mr Kinnock rose two to 52 per cent .sx Labour's campaign coordinator Jack Cunningham insisted last night that domestic affairs would rescue his party .sx " This is what will determine the outcome of the election , " he said .sx