Actually, I'm not too sure it's banned from import to the UK. We have a legal definition of a firearm which includes the phrase 'lethal, barrelled...' and the power level for lethality is declared to be over one Joule. Probably avoids the definition of an imitation firearm too due to its diminuitive size. Ammo is another matter however. Blanks would be okay though!
Oh, and about the whole thing of being the same as a machinegun... full auto and small firearms (with some exceptions) are classed as prohibited weapons under the Firearms Act 1968, as amended 1988, 1997. So are pepper spray and tasers. Semi-auto .22 rimfire rifles, single-loading and manual-repeating rifles, shotguns, muzzle-loading pistols, revolvers, rifles, muskets, shotguns, cannons up to 2" bore, air rifles over 12 ft/lb, air pistols over 6 ft/lb and many more fun and useful tools and toys are Section 1 firearms or Section 2 shotguns, as in not prohibited. By that journalist's logic, a can of sprayable seasoning is more deadly than, say, a Saiga 12 with slugs, or perhaps a Boys .55 AT rifle, or a LeMat m/l revolver.
