A dispute over the citizenship of Somali-born Ayaan Hirsi Ali brought down the Dutch government yesterday when D66, the junior member of the centre-right coalition, walked out after demanding the resignation of Rita Verdonk, the hard-line immigration minister.

Jan Peter Balkenende, prime minister, told parliament he would go to Queen Beatrix today to begin the process of consultations that could lead either to his Christian democrat alliance continuing to govern as a minority coalition with Mrs Verdonk's liberal VVD, or to a snap general election.