be (caught) in a cleft stick
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishbe (caught) in a cleft stickbe (caught) in a cleft stickBritish EnglishMI to be in a very difficult situation in which any action or decision you make will cause problems → cleftExamples from the Corpusbe (caught) in a cleft stick• So the developing countries are caught in a cleft stick.• Now the local authorities are caught in a cleft stick, hostages to their own political process.