"bleeding stump" meaning in English

{
  "etymology_text": "Coined by Christopher Hood and Maurice Wright in 1981 in Big Government in Hard Times. The implication is that the public service is deliberately cutting off its own hand to make a dramatic point.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "bleeding stumps",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "bleeding stump (plural bleeding stumps)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "British English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Politics",
          "orig": "en:Politics",
          "parents": [
            "Society",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              161,
              175
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1995, Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons, Parliamentary Debates (Hansard).: House of Commons official report:",
          "text": "Looking over my shoulder , I anticipate that Conservative Members of Parliament will drum that message home vehemently and try to spell out to parents that the \"bleeding stump\" syndrome does not exist if the local authority is efficient.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              114,
              128
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2005 August 9, Maurice Mullard, The Politics of Public Expenditure, Routledge, →ISBN, page 1987:",
          "text": "In the meantime, the financial crisis of the new hospital trusts at Guy's and Bradford Infirmary were used as the bleeding stump strategy to signal to the Government that the reforms were not likely to benefit the health service.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              102,
              116
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2019 June 18, Martin Holmes, The First Thatcher Government, 1979-1983: Contemporary Conservatism And Economic Change, Routledge, →ISBN:",
          "text": "Second, cuts in education spending proved contentious, difficult to implement and were vulnerable to 'bleeding stump' opposition.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A deliberate disruptive or high-profile reduction in a public service, intended to demonstrate the impact of funding cuts and motivate opposition."
      ],
      "id": "en-bleeding_stump-en-noun-9TNYv9ah",
      "links": [
        [
          "politics",
          "politics"
        ],
        [
          "deliberate",
          "deliberate"
        ],
        [
          "disruptive",
          "disruptive"
        ],
        [
          "demonstrate",
          "demonstrate"
        ],
        [
          "motivate",
          "motivate"
        ],
        [
          "opposition",
          "opposition"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(UK, politics) A deliberate disruptive or high-profile reduction in a public service, intended to demonstrate the impact of funding cuts and motivate opposition."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "government",
        "politics"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "bleeding stump"
}

{
  "etymology_text": "Coined by Christopher Hood and Maurice Wright in 1981 in Big Government in Hard Times. The implication is that the public service is deliberately cutting off its own hand to make a dramatic point.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "bleeding stumps",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "bleeding stump (plural bleeding stumps)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "British English",
        "English countable nouns",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "en:Politics"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              161,
              175
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1995, Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons, Parliamentary Debates (Hansard).: House of Commons official report:",
          "text": "Looking over my shoulder , I anticipate that Conservative Members of Parliament will drum that message home vehemently and try to spell out to parents that the \"bleeding stump\" syndrome does not exist if the local authority is efficient.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              114,
              128
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2005 August 9, Maurice Mullard, The Politics of Public Expenditure, Routledge, →ISBN, page 1987:",
          "text": "In the meantime, the financial crisis of the new hospital trusts at Guy's and Bradford Infirmary were used as the bleeding stump strategy to signal to the Government that the reforms were not likely to benefit the health service.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              102,
              116
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2019 June 18, Martin Holmes, The First Thatcher Government, 1979-1983: Contemporary Conservatism And Economic Change, Routledge, →ISBN:",
          "text": "Second, cuts in education spending proved contentious, difficult to implement and were vulnerable to 'bleeding stump' opposition.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A deliberate disruptive or high-profile reduction in a public service, intended to demonstrate the impact of funding cuts and motivate opposition."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "politics",
          "politics"
        ],
        [
          "deliberate",
          "deliberate"
        ],
        [
          "disruptive",
          "disruptive"
        ],
        [
          "demonstrate",
          "demonstrate"
        ],
        [
          "motivate",
          "motivate"
        ],
        [
          "opposition",
          "opposition"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(UK, politics) A deliberate disruptive or high-profile reduction in a public service, intended to demonstrate the impact of funding cuts and motivate opposition."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "government",
        "politics"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "bleeding stump"
}