Live 8 boss Bob Geldof today condemned violent protesters as “idiots” as he set off on a train to Scotland on his anti-poverty crusade, but he dismissed last night’s clashes in Edinburgh ahead of the G8 summit as a “side issue” compared with the “extreme violence” of third world suffering.

EVERY day more than 30,000 children die as a result of extreme poverty and injustice. That’s one child every three seconds. Most of these deaths are preventable.