Keir Starmer has reached out to Scottish independence supporters with a pledge to decentralise power across the UK.
The Labour leader claimed he understood why Scots voted for independence in 2014.
Starmer said that "the Westminster system is part of the problem" in a speech made in east London.
He said that "a short-term mindset dominates Westminster" and that "hoarding" power in London was holding the country back.
Starmer said: "No similar country puts so much decision-making in the hands of so few people. So it’s no wonder the problems of communities up and down this country don’t get the attention they deserve.
"Just think about it practically for a minute. Imagine Britain is a work place. Now, the boss and the senior management, yes, of course they have to take some of the big decisions, the strategic ones. But you wouldn’t have them taking every decision, would you? Standing over your shoulder telling you exactly how to use a robot arm? Getting them to write the code for computer aided manufacturing? Of course not - nothing would get done.
"Big decisions would get put off, because you wouldn’t be able to see the wood for the trees while other decisions – taken by the wrong people, not close enough to the action – would get botched.
"Yet this is exactly how we try to run Britain. It’s why for all the talk of levelling-up, nothing ever happens. It’s just that old game of passionately identifying a problem. Rather than facing the real solution and accepting Westminster must give power away.
"Well - no more. No more sticking plaster politics. No more Westminster hoarding power. No more holding back this country’s economic potential.
"This year we’re going to show how real change comes from unlocking the pride and purpose of British communities."
Starmer also said that people voted for Scottish independence because they wanted "control over their lives and their community."
He said that he would devolve new powers and give communities a right to request new additional powers.
Local people would be given power over skills, employment support, transport, energy, housing, culture, childcare and funding settlements as part of a Take Back Control Act.
Take Back Control was the slogan of the Vote Leave campaign during the 2016 Brexit referendum.
Starmer said: "A huge power shift out of Westminster can transform our economy, our politics and our democracy.
"I go back to Brexit. Yes, a whole host of issues were on that ballot paper. But as I went around the country, campaigning for Remain, I couldn’t disagree with the basic case so many Leave voters made to me.
"People who wanted public services they could rely on. High streets they could be proud of. Opportunities for the next generation. And all of this in their town or city.
"It was the same in the Scottish referendum in 2014 - many of those who voted ‘yes’ did so for similar reasons. And it’s not an unreasonable demand.
"It’s not unreasonable for us to recognise the desire for communities to stand on their own feet. It’s what Take Back Control meant. The control people want is control over their lives and their community.
"So we will embrace the Take Back Control message. But we’ll turn it from a slogan to a solution. From a catchphrase into change. We will spread control out of Westminster. Devolve new powers over employment support, transport, energy, climate change, housing, culture, childcare provision and how councils run their finances.
"And we’ll give communities a new right to request powers which go beyond this."
But the SNP accused Starmer of embracing "the wrecking ball that is Brexit".
SNP Depute Leader Keith Brown said that the speech showed that "the next General Election is a choice between two Tory Prime Ministers."
Brown said: "Today's intervention from Keir Starmer promised a decade of renewal but the reality is another decade of crippling austerity for Scotland from Westminster.
"The leader of the Official Opposition doesn’t only embrace the wrecking ball that is Brexit - he’s now stealing their campaign slogans. Meanwhile, Brexit is hammering Scotland’s economy in the midst of the deepest cost of living crisis in decades.
"Labour are now carbon-copy Tories on Brexit, the co-conspirators to hush up the true cost of Brexit. Today's speech only confirms that the next General Election is a choice between two Tory Prime Ministers.
"Keir Starmer did finally acknowledge why people in Scotland voted Yes in 2014, yet he and his party continue to deny the democratic mandate for a fresh vote on independence.
"That's exactly why Scotland needs the full powers of independence - to guarantee we get the governments we vote for every time and to deliver on our priorities and our values, which clearly differ from those at Westminster.”
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