I don't know if many of you notice this, but a lot of people who simply don't understand trading or derivatives seem hell bent on taking away our right to trade, just like the current proposed UK ban. They are cheering on the regulators to ban everything. They think any leverage is gambling. How do you feel realizing these people want to take your livelihood away?
Among all reasons, lack of trading knowledge is surely not the main reason why authorities are looking to ban some types of trading. You gave the example of UK ban, as per my knowledge authorities are most skeptical about binary trading. They aren't looking to ban all kinds of trading. And, moreover, it is not possible to ban all kind of trading and derivatives since these activities are the basis of mobilization of funds in the economy which is very necessary for economic development.
Coming to binary trading, even I consider binary trading as a sort of gambling since one is wagering money on the future value of security and there is equal chance of losing your capital if you make wrong decision which is essence of gambling. It is not exactly like traditional option trading and more of a gambling niche.