Belgian government 'to resign en masse'

The Belgian government failed to agree on more self-rule for Belgium’s Dutch and French-speaking camps, forcing Prime Minister Yves Leterme to offer King Albert the resignation of his cabinet, according to media reports.

The VRT television network said today that Mr Leterme saw King Albert II at the royal palace after he failed to get his Cabinet to approve constitutional reforms.

The Cabinet is an unwieldy alliance of Christian Democrats, Socialists, Liberals and nationalist hard-liners from both sides of Belgium’s linguistic divide.

The issue has loomed over Belgian politics for more than a year.

Mr Leterme had set a deadline of tomorrow to reach a deal on the issue.