As a contractor in the UK, you are likely not paying National Insurance contributions, are able to write off mileage and other expenses, can reduce your tax liability with dividends. Plus you'd still get access to the NHS.
I'm perm at the moment, but if I was a contractor I'd be saving a significant amount of money.
There are a lot of people like this in the UK, not just in IT, the BBC, the media, even the government are full of them. They look like employees, quack like employees, but dodge PAYE. They are the problem, not a couple of billionaires with Swiss bank accounts.
In AU, once you factor in tax and benefits, contractors typically earn 50% more than full time employees. For a $100k full time role, the same might go to a contractor for $800+/day ($180k/year).
In context to the interview I was talking about the perm rate was half of the contract rates they were paying people on the same team.