Government quarrelled about Liberal - grumbled (7)
I believe the answer is:
growled
'grumbled' is the definition.
('growl' can be a synonym of 'grumble')
'government quarrelled about liberal' is the wordplay.
'government' becomes 'g' (abbreviation for government).
'quarrelled' becomes 'rowed' (I've seen this before).
'about' is an insertion indicator.
'liberal' becomes 'l' (abbreviation).
'rowed' placed around 'l' is 'rowled'.
'g'+'rowled'='GROWLED'
(Other definitions for growled that I've seen before include "Made low rumbling sounds" , "Grumbled, snarled" , "Made low guttural sounds of hostility" , "Emitted low dull rumbling sounds" .)