Help backward group of people with verbal attack (8)
I believe the answer is:
diatribe
'verbal attack' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'help backward group of' is the wordplay.
'help' becomes 'aid' (synonyms).
'backward' is a reversal indicator.
'group of' becomes 'tribe' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'aid' in reverse letter order is 'dia'.
'dia'+'tribe'='DIATRIBE'
'people with' acts as a link.
This may not be right. Some or all of it may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for diatribe that I've seen before include "A Prolonged harangue" , "Loud verbal attack" , "Bitter verbal attack" , "Insults" , "Abusive harangue" .)