THe UK labour party are dimwits. UK trading already attracts close to the most expensive stamp duty costs of any market in the world. HFT is not a bad thing. It provides liquidity, and without liquidity you may have A$1 or A$2 spread between bid/offer on stocks like this.
People who really understand Algos and liquidity needs of a market love HFT. In the US markets over 60% of all trades are algo trades. Take that away and spreads increase - bringing in even more opportunity for average traders to be taken advantage of.
The trick is to not put in tight stops, and if you are not comfortable with the stock, then don't trade it
BKL Price at posting:
$105.30 Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held