AN SNP minister has hit out after a Labour peer suggested that Alex Cole-Hamilton was justified in swearing at her during an Holyrood committee meeting.

Cole-Hamilton, one of the Scottish LibDems five MSPs, was embroiled in controversy last week after he was seen telling Minister for Children and Young People Maree Todd “f*** you” following a disagreement around the commencement period for a bill on children’s rights.

READ MORE: WATCH: LibDem MSP appears to swear during virtual committee meeting

He was taking part in a committee meeting remotely and had his microphone muted at the time, but Todd described how the LibDem’s “face contorted with anger”.

Cole-Hamilton apologised over Twitter, and again to Parliament after members of the SNP branded his initial offering “half-baked”.

Now, Labour peer George Foulkes has claimed it is “no wonder” that the LibDem lost his temper with Todd.

Foulkes’s remark came in response to a tweet from the SNP Children’s Minister in which she offered comment on the news of Oliver Lewis resigning from the Union Unit after just two weeks in the role.

Sharing a BBC story headlined “Boris Johnson's 'union adviser' quits after two weeks”, Todd wrote: “Gosh it’s almost farcical. What an impossible job.

“Nobody can save the Union. Scotland’s position is untenable within the UK.”

In response, Foulkes wrote: “No wonder @agcolehamilton got fed up with @MareeToddMSP.

“Scottish Government Ministers seem to have a lot of time on their hands for posting silly tweets.”

READ MORE: WATCH: LibDem MSP caught swearing at minister tells SNP to 'reflect on their tone'

Todd quickly hit back, pointing to the language used by the Labour peer in particular, which was branded “arrogant and misogynistic”.

The SNP MSP wrote: “No George, it’s not okay.

“I did not deserve it.

“I was not asking for it.

“I am not a silly little woman with time on my hands.”

SNP colleagues including Minister for Mental Health Clare Haughey, Westminster group deputy leader Kirsten Oswald, and MSP James Dornan have since reshared Todd’s response.

In answer to Foulkes’s tweet, Dornan wrote: “You’ve managed to come across as bitter, arrogant and misogynistic all in one tweet, and at the same time shine a light on the standard of people allowed into [the House of Lords].”