Beat up a Liberal in an old province (5)
I believe the answer is:
natal
'an old province' is the definition.
(former South African province)
'beat up a liberal' is the wordplay.
'beat' becomes 'tan' (I've seen this before**).
'up' says the letters should be written in reverse (in down clue: letters go upwards).
'a liberal' becomes 'al' (I've seen this in other clues).
'tan' reversed gives 'nat'.
'nat'+'al'='NATAL'
'in' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for natal that I've seen before include "Brazilian port" , "former SA province" , "Colony once" , "Native" , "Province of South Africa" .)