Labor will cancel its national women's conference and limit the list of candidates for all as it awaits full guidance from equal regulators, sparking criticism from key campaigners of trans rights and gender.

The party’s governing body, the National Executive Council (NEC), will meet on Tuesday to sign a plan to cancel the women’s meeting, which will be held ahead of the annual meeting in Liverpool in September.

The interim recommendation of the Commission on Equality and Human Rights was to rule in the Supreme Court that the term “women” in the Equality Act refers only to biological women, indicating that the rule should be applied to voluntary organizations.

According to Lawler's list, the NEC was told that the party had the potential to face legal challenges by attending the meeting, and could face protests and direct action if the meeting continued as usual on a self-identity basis.

The NEC guidance also recommends that: “All active action measures related to women should be explained based on biological sexual behavior at birth. Guidance should be issued to all party units and relevant stakeholders.

“The Party will work with individuals and local parties affected by the verdict to resolve specific cases with sensitivity and compassion and acknowledge the significant impact of the verdict on many people.”

The Labour Women’s Manifesto said it was wrong to cancel the meeting, calling it “knee bastard reaction” and “incitement action”. The conference acted as a decision-making body on specific issues affecting women.

"It would be disappointing if our party strives to be an adult and serious political force, and a strong government will not be brave enough to carry out this meeting as planned and implemented under the laws under the Labor government," the group said. "Women deserve better."

The cancellation of the meeting can be expensive, and the NEC document states that “services that are involved in events involving large expenditures are about to contractual commitments to the service”.

The LGBT+ workforce, Trans-Work Power and Workforce Pride issued a joint statement condemning the changes and urging NEC members to vote on them.

"Labor must set an example and stand on the right hand of history," the statement said, adding that the proposals are "effective ways to clarify "anything"".

"We will also question whether excluding trans women from women's meetings is a proportional means of achieving legitimate goals, as transgender issues appear again and again during the meetings, which seems to completely eliminate the debate among trans people. This is a blatant attack on trans rights, which seems to be an attack on trans people and attempts to be trans in the Workers Party and more widely."

Georgia Meadows, a transgender official at LGBT Labor, said: "Trans are already greatly underdeveloped in British politics, and if passed, this decision by the NEC will further undermine the ability of transgender people to interact with the democratic process and make them feel unwelcome when trans communities are increasingly under attack."

A Labor source said the party would respect the Supreme Court's judgment and comply with the statutory guidance once issued. When submitting the draft, the Minister will consider the EHRC Code of Practice.