A review aimed at boosting rights for transgender people has been reportedly kicked into the long grass, amid a furious campaign from the right-wing press.

Earlier this year the Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities Justine Greening had announced plans to review the Gender Recognition Act, a 2004 law that allows transgender people to gain legal recognition.

LGBT advocates had called for the law to be streamlined to reduce the hurdles that transgender people have to jump through to get a Gender Recognition Certificate, adopting a simpler ‘self-declaration’ system that operates in Ireland and other countries across Europe.

However, the review – which was originally billed to be starting this autumn- appears to have been postponed after a furious anti-transgender backlash in the media, which has seized upon any mention of trans people.

The Sunday Times reports that a planned consultation will now not be launched until spring 2018 at the earliest, citing the issue’s “complex” and “divisive” nature. The source claimed that the consultation will not be launched until after the Government Equalities Office has processed responses to the national LGBT survey, which took place earlier this year. Read more via PinkNews