Crossword Genius

Labour leader's brilliant tax cut (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

lacerate

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'cut' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'labour leader's brilliant tax' is the wordplay.
'labour leader's' becomes 'l' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'brilliant' becomes 'ace' (I've seen this before).
'tax' becomes 'rate' (rate is a kind of tax).
'l'+'ace'+'rate'='LACERATE'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for lacerate that I've seen before include "Tear, wound, hurt" , "Cut or tear irregularly" , "Tear or gash roughly" , "Tear or make deep cuts" , "Deeply cut (flesh, skin)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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