Two British people (5)
I believe the answer is:
brace
'two' is the definition.
(brace is a kind of two)
'british people' is the wordplay.
'british' becomes 'b' (abbreviation e.g. in 'BBC').
'people' becomes 'race' (**).
'b'+'race'='BRACE'
(Other definitions for brace that I've seen before include "Pair; hand drill" , "Two - supporter" , "Two of a kind" , "Support - pair" , "A pair as of game birds" .)