UK equality watchdog to extend gender guidance consultation, say insiders

Exclusive: Six-week deliberation asked for by Commons committee expected to be granted after internal backlash

The UK's equality watchdog is expected to give in to demands that it allow more time to consider its formal guidance on the supreme court ruling about gender issues, after what sources say has been a big backlash from staff and stakeholders.

Some insiders believe the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) may be forced into a U-turn on its initial response, which was criticised as overly literal in defining how organisations should respond to the court decision that woman" in the Equality Act refers only to a biological woman.