What gives me right to it! (5)
I believe the answer is:
merit
'what gives' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.
'me right to it' is the wordplay.
'right' becomes 'r' (common abbreviation).
'to' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'me'+'r'+'it'='MERIT'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for merit that I've seen before include "Just deserts" , "credit" , "Deserve; excellence" , "Quality deserving reward" , "Deserve, be worthy of" .)