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(Sharecast News) - Britain's deep regional income divide has barely changed in 30 years despite the promises of successive governments to narrow the gap, according to a report showing the challenge for Andy Burnham. As the prime minister-in-waiting prepares for government, the Resolution Foundation said almost no progress had been made since 1997 to tackle stark divisions in household income, before housing costs are taken into account, between the richest and poorest parts of the country. - Guardian
John Lewis has put 200 jobs at risk as it plans to shut down desks operating gift wrapping and foreign exchange services. The 36-strong department store chain said it had begun a consultation on redundancies as it plans to close the desks that operate bureau de change services in 30 stores, and specialist gift wrapping in 25 stores. No final decision has been taken on the closures, but if confirmed they will take place this autumn. - Guardian
One million more homeowners will face higher mortgage bills because of Donald Trump's Iran war, the Bank of England has warned. Rising borrowing costs driven by the conflict mean five million households will see their repayments increase over the next two years when they remortgage. In December, the Bank said four million would see their bills rise. - Telegraph
London is one of the most "highly exposed" parts of the world to having jobs affected by artificial intelligence, according to research by a major forecaster. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development think tank found that the UK capital had the highest share of employment "exposed" to generative AI models such as Chat GPT, Gemini and Claude of any region in 34 countries it considered. - The Times
Businesses meant to benefit from government legislation to digitise trade documents have been "untouched" by the changes, research for the government suggests. While large companies and shipping carriers have taken advantage of the Electronic Trade Documents Act of 2023 to save money by shifting some transactions from paper to digital formats, smaller exporters have been left behind. - The Times
