British in origin, independent, cold and mechanical (7)
I believe the answer is:
robotic
'mechanical' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'british in origin independent cold' is the wordplay.
'british' becomes 'b' (abbreviation e.g. in 'BBC').
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'origin' becomes 'root' ('root' can be a synonym of 'origin'**).
'independent' becomes 'i'.
'cold' becomes 'c' (eg on taps).
'b' going within 'root' is 'robot'.
'robot'+'i'+'c'='ROBOTIC'
'and' is the link.
(Other definitions for robotic that I've seen before include "Stiff, unemotional" , "Of mechanical movements" , "Automaton-like" , "acting without thinking?" , "working mechanically" .)