They came here in the search for answers. Students, pensioners, married couples, men looking weary after a long day's work, women holding a glass of red wine -- around 60 people altogether. Members of London's middle class are gathered at the Tabernacle, a former church in the Notting Hill neighborhood. They have a lot of questions. What will happen when Britain leaves the European Union? Will the country become poorer? And what kind of society will develop here at Europe's periphery?

Entry to this evening's event in Notting Hill, "The Brexit Effect: How Brexit Will Change Life, Work, Politics and Business in the UK," cost 26 pounds (30 euros) and similar events are springing up all over the country these days. There are podium discussions and conferences -- and every single one of these events offers proof of the vacuum that exists following the referendum, and of the considerable thirst for answers. There are also a dozen Brexit books on the market as the publishing industry seeks to fill the gap. At least someone seems to be profiting from the country's departure from the EU.

A man wearing a dark suit bounces onto the stage. Anand Menon is a professor for European politics at London's renowned King's College. Another expert. If there's anyone who knows the future -- at least the contours of it -- then it's Menon. But Menon also seems at a loss. Sorry, he says, he has no idea what will happen.

An admission price of 26 pounds for answers that nobody can offer. Not on this evening, not in Notting Hill and, indeed, nowhere in Britain. So far, Theresa May's government hasn't produced anything providing even the remotest clues about where this journey will take Britain. Instead, the prime minister's strategy has focused on empty platitudes. "We will make a success of it," "Brexit means Brexit" or "I want to have the best possible Brexit deal."

But with each passing day, a growing number of contradictory messages come out of her cabinet. Will Britain remain a member of the customs union? Will the country continue to pay into the EU budget? Will EU citizens one day be deported from Britain? At the beginning of December, May even made an appearance on the deck of a Royal Navy ship in the Persian Gulf, telling her audience: "I want a red, white and blue Brexit."

Grave Consequences

This could be funny if the lack of planning didn't have such grave consequences. In less than three months' time, May plans to trigger Article 50, officially notifying the European Union of Britain's intention to withdraw from the bloc. In the meantime, prices for food and consumer goods have risen, in part because the British pound has depreciated significantly since the end of June. The government is expecting a budget shortfall of 122 billion pounds over the next five years, with those that have the least likely to suffer the most. May has said she will hold a major speech this month outlining the form of Brexit she is aspiring to.

Over six months after the Brexit referendum, Britain finds itself in a state of internal unrest. The prime minister has promised reconciliation, but little of it can be felt. Even her own government officials are rebelling. Last Tuesday, Britain's unnerved ambassador to the EU in Brussels, Ivan Rogers, resigned from his post -- a huge loss given that no one else knows Brussels and the EU partners as well as he does. His successor will be a former British ambassador to Moscow, a diplomat who last held a job in Brussels some six years ago.