Singer right to hug diplomat? On the contrary! (6)
I believe the answer is:
rather
'on the contrary' is the definition.
('rather' can precede a statement to the contrary)
'singer right to hug diplomat?' is the wordplay.
'singer' becomes 'rat' (I've seen this in other clues).
'right' becomes 'r' (common abbreviation).
'to hug' is an insertion indicator (inserted letters are hugged).
'diplomat?' becomes 'he'.
'rat'+'r'='ratr'
'ratr' placed around 'he' is 'RATHER'.
(Other definitions for rather that I've seen before include "On the contrary; more precisely" , "Infinite time" , "More willingly, by preference" , "somewhat > sooner? > Quite" , "More precisely; instead of" .)