parcel
pass the parcel a situation in which movement or exchange takes place, but no one gains any advantage.
☞ Pass the parcel is the name of a children's game in which a parcel is passed round to the accompaniment of music. When the music stops, the child holding the parcel is allowed to open it.
2010Guardian Cameron may talk of fixing broken politics, but Clegg has shown us how-stop Labour and the Tories playing pass the parcel with government, and allow a wider political spectrum to have their voices heard.