POLITICS might be uncertain but there is nothing more strong and stable than a pint of ale.

Bolton's award-winning brewery Bank Top has bagged a pump at the exclusive Strangers' Bar in the House of Commons.

Tipple Bad to the Bone is currently on sale in Parliament to MPs and Parliamentary officers and their guests.

Owner director of Bank Top Brewery David Sweeney said: "It was a little bit of a surprise but a nice surprise."

This is the third time a Bank Top beer has been on in the Strangers' Bar, previously Flat Cap and Pavillion Pale Ale have made the cut.

Mr Sweeney said they had had a good reaction to the beer so far, with social media messages joking Bad to the Bone was an apt name for its political setting.

Mr Sweeney revealed the name came about a few years ago when they were trying to get drinks to fit the BTB acronym to match the brewery's name. It was also influenced by the song of the same name performed at Live Aid by George Thorogood and The Destroyers.

Although Mr Sweeney joked: "Although some people might say its a reference to me being bad to the bone."

Mr Sweeney said MPs and their guests would enjoy the "traditional" bitter. He said: "It's a blend of popular American hops with English malt from Warminster Maltings."

Bolton West MP Chris Green has been pledging his support for the "Long Live The Local" Campaign and was pleased the beer was gaining some new drinkers.

He said: “It’s wonderful that a Bolton-based beer is currently on tap in the Houses of Parliament and the ‘Bad To The Bone’ beer certainly received a lot of praise in Westminster.

“Pubs and breweries contribute greatly to our community, supporting over one thousand jobs in Bolton West and Atherton alone, so it’s great to see this brewery deservedly in the limelight.

“This is why I will continue to support a freeze in beer duty, so that our pubs can keep their doors open and carry supporting our local economy and putting Bolton on the map.”

Bank Top Brewery runs two pubs in Bolton: The Ale House in Horwich and the Bank Top Tap in Astley Bridge.