LONDON – The British government's plan to tighten its asylum system met sharp resistance Monday from inside its own party but was getting some support from political rivals in a sign of how divisive the immigration issue has become.

Before Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood even released details of the sweeping plan to make the U.K. less attractive to asylum-seekers and migrants easier to remove she was trying to quell a backlash from center-left Labour Party backbenchers who accused her of trying to court the far-right.

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“It’s shameful that a Labour government is ripping up the rights and protections of people who have endured unimaginable trauma," said Nadia Whittome, a Labour member of Parliament from Nottingham who called the proposed policies “cruel” and “dystopian

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