A concerted effort to push the Trades Union Congress into a full boycott of all Israeli goods has been stepped up after the launch of a boycott of Israeli settlement produce.

Hugh Lanning, deputy general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union and chair of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, has increased the pressure on the TUC by saying that the Palestinian support group wants to "work to take TUC policy further, together with individual unions, many of which already have a policy supporting a full boycott".

He said the PSC "rejects the argument that such a boycott should not be embarked upon for fear of harming Palestinian and Israeli workers".

Now the leading trade union activist Eric Lee has accused the TUC of going beyond its mandate by launching a boycott of Israeli settlement goods in partnership with the PSC.

Mr Lee, a founder of the Trade Unions Linking Israel and Palestine organisation, said: "The TUC backs a two-state solution while the PSC wants only one and makes no mention of Israel on its website".