Cutting back on heartlessly supporting power (7)
I believe the answer is:
pruning
'cutting back' is the definition.
('prune' can be a synonym of 'cut back')
I can't explain the remainder of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for pruning that I've seen is " Trimming (trees)".)
I've seen this clue in The Times.
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