Gradually becoming less safe in government (8)

I believe the answer is:

petering

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'gradually becoming less' is the definition.
The answer and definition are not the same part of speech.

'safe in government' is the wordplay.
'safe' becomes 'peter' (slang term for a safe).
'government' becomes 'g' (abbreviation for government).
'peter'+'in'+'g'='PETERING'

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I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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