Drain of state by government (6)
I believe the answer is:
gutter
'drain' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'state by government' is the wordplay.
'state' becomes 'utter' (both can mean to say).
'by' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'government' becomes 'g' (abbreviation for government).
'utter' after 'g' is 'GUTTER'.
'of' is the link.
(Other definitions for gutter that I've seen before include "Roadside channel" , "Channel to carry away rainwater" , "dirty channel?" , "Person who empties" , "Street channel for carrying off rainwater" .)