Leave local? It's not down the country! (2,6)
I believe the answer is:
up sticks
'country' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I can't tell whether it can be defined by this definition.
'leave local? it's not down' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'not down' could be 'up' ('up' is the opposite to 'down') and 'up' is found within the answer.
'it' could be 't' (abbreviation. e.g. in 'tis) and 't' is found within the answer.
'leave' could be 'sick' (sick leave is a kind of leave) and 'sick' is located in the remaining letters.
A single letter 's' remains which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'the' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for up sticks that I've seen before include "Move away without warning" , "Move house(colloq.)" , "Make off" .)