About-turn in relation to threat, not hard (7)
I believe the answer is:
retreat
'about-turn' is the definition.
'relation to threat not hard' is the wordplay.
'relation' becomes 're' (re is a kind of relation**).
'to' says to put letters next to each other.
'not' indicates named letters should be taken away.
'hard' becomes 'h'.
'threat' with 'h' taken out is 'treat'.
're'+'treat'='RETREAT'
'in' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for retreat that I've seen before include "snug" , "care home" , "retirement" , "withdrawal" , "Tree rat (anag)" .)