The noose tightens indeed. Already in France at MRS the contractors were moved out/put on Ryanair contracts a year ago, and now, the UK. There seems also to be a fair amount of recent interest by the Irish authorities to ensure the contractors operating there are "tax compliant".
As you say, this nice little earner (for DD) and money saver (for RYR) is about to dry up. Apart from those who have been "creative" with taxation, it is difficult to see too many tears being shed by the pilot body (many of whom, particularly Cadets, only ended up as "contractors"
by default.)