Sitting on the fence batten is no worse (10)
I believe the answer is:
abstention
'sitting on the fence' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot see how they can define each other.
'batten is no worse' is the wordplay.
'worse' is an anagram indicator (I've seen this in other clues).
'batten'+'is'+'no'='battenisno'
'battenisno' is an anagram of 'ABSTENTION'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for abstention that I've seen before include "Refusal to vote" , "Sitting on fence" , "Withholding of vote" , "forbearance" , "endorsing no candidate" .)