Blair at Trump's 'board of peace' signing in Davos despite UK snub

Tony Blair turned up for Donald Trump's 'peace board' launch today despite a snub from the UK government.

The former PM was namechecked by the US president at the ceremony in Davos, where he hailed the level of interest in participating.

Sir Tony is an executive member of the board alongside Mr Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. 

The launch came just hours after Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said Britain would not be participating as there were 'concerns' about the invite for Vladimir Putin to join the body.

Almost all other European nations are also holding off, with fears of a new standoff developing after a tentative solution was found to the bitter spat over Mr Trump's demands for Greenland. 

Critics have warned that the organisation - which has a £1billion fee for permanent membership - appears to be an attempt to supplant the UN. 

Who was at Trump's board of peace ceremony today? 

Argentina

Armenia

Azerbaijan 

Bahrain

Bulgaria

Egypt 

Hungary 

Indonesia

Jordan

Kazakhstan

Kosovo

Mongolia

Morocco 

Pakistan

Paraguay

Qatar

Saudi Arabia

Turkey

UAE 

Uzbekistan. 

Originally meant to oversee the rebuilding of Gaza after the war between Hamas and Israel, the board's charter makes no reference to the Middle East crisis.

Key US allies have expressed scepticism, with France outright refusing to participate and Italy also delaying a decision. 

Denmark - at the heart of the row over Mr Trump's Greenland grab - has not been invited even though Russian puppet regime Belarus is on the list.

The countries who had representatives at the event were Bahrain, Morocco, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Egypt, Hungary Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Mongolia, Pakistan, Paraguay, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the UAE and Uzbekistan.

Belgium was initially said by the White House to have agreed to join, but that was later flatly denied by the Deputy PM Maxime Prevot.

'Belgium has NOT signed the Charter of the Board of Peace. This announcement is incorrect,' he said on social media.

Israel is believed to be on board, but was not represented at the ceremony. 

Mr Trump insisted last night that Putin had agreed to join, but the Kremlin has so far only said it is still studying the invite.

Ms Cooper told BBC Breakfast: 'There's a huge amount of work to do we won't be one of the signatories today, because this is about a legal treaty that raises much broader issues, and we do also have concerns about President Putin being part of something which is talking about peace, when we have still not seen any signs from Putin that there will be a commitment to peace in Ukraine.

'And to be honest, that is also what we should be talking about.'

Kemi Badenoch told Sky News she agreed with the government's caution over the board.

'Right now we should not be serving on any board with Vladimir Putin. That is something I am completely against,' she said. 

Mr Trump said on Friday that creating the body was a 'vital step' in implementing his 20-point Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict.

However, the charter reportedly makes no specific reference to Gaza, instead describing the board as 'an international organization that seeks to promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict'.

Mr Trump says he will serve as chairman of the board, control funds, and personally designate any successor.

The organisations rules apparently say that member states will serve a maximum of three years, unless $1billion is contributed within the first year. 

A US official confirmed to the Daily Mail that there is no requirement to contribute the funds, but those who do are granted permanent membership rather than a three-year term. 

One senior Labour MP said countries were being asked to contribute $1billion to 'sit next to Putin'.

'Blair is desperate to be on the world stage still,' they added.  

Asked on Friday whether Sir Tony was aware of the price tag for permanent membership, a spokeswoman said: 'He is not involved in determining membership of the Board of Peace. 

'He will be working on the implementation of the Gaza peace plan that has been endorsed by the UN in an unpaid role.'