• noun action by members of parliament or elected local councillors to help each other’s interests, even though this may not be in the general interest of the country or local area


  • noun unofficial or dubious collaboration for mutual advantage, especially in the word of politics. This expression has been in use since the 19th century when it referred to lumberjacking, where pioneer neighbours would help each other move the timber required for building by physically rolling the logs to their destination before cutting them up; it has recently become popular in British journalistic circles under American influence.