Gordon Brown's plan to reform the system of parliamentary allowances ran into trouble tonight when David Cameron and Nick Clegg flatly rejected Downing Street's central proposal to introduce a daily allowance for MPs.

The prime minister will put pressure on backbench Labour MPs to support his plans in a parliamentary vote next week after the Tory and Liberal Democrat leaders said they would vote down his scheme.

In a tense 6pm meeting at the Commons, Cameron warned the prime minister that introducing a daily allowance would pave the way for a corrupt Strasbourg-style system. "It will be a sign on and bugger off system," Cameron told the Tory backbench 1922 committee last night.

Brown attempted to seize the initiative on Tuesday when he announced plans to rush through a series of reforms after he was warned of a public backlash against the current system of parliamentary allowances.

His key proposal was to abolish the additional costs allowance, worth £24,006 a year, which is used by MPs to subsidise the costs of a second home. This would be replaced by a daily allowance which would only be paid when parliament is sitting.

The rate would be set by the senior salaries review body. But government sources said that the daily rate would be between £128 and £150, which would work out between £17,920 and £21,000 a year.

Cameron and Clegg dismissed this system. One Tory source said: "We totally rejected what Gordon Brown put forward. We received no assurances that the prime minister's scheme would not end up like the system for the European Parliament. His system is totally corruptible. The majority of MPs would still be able to claim similar amounts of money."

The Tory leader told the prime minister that he would attempt to put his own proposals to a vote in the Commons next week. Cameron would replace the Additional Costs Allowance with a "Transparent Parliamentary Allowance" which would be worth less to MPs. There would be four key changes:

• Claims could only be made for mortgage interest payments, which would be capped, and for rent, utility bills and council tax.

• The so called "John Lewis list" would be ended by banning claims for furniture, televisions, home decorations, television bills, stamp duty and moving costs.

• All claims, with receipts, would be published online within 28 days.

• MPs who live together would only be allowed to claim once.

Cameron accepted other proposals put forward by the prime minister. These include greater transparency on MPs' second jobs – mainly aimed at shadow cabinet members who work in the City – and making MPs' staff direct employees of parliament.

Cameron said after his meeting with Brown: "Sadly, what is clear is that the prime minister is absolutely wedded to his idea of having a system where we pay MPs to turn up and do their job. What he's effectively doing is replacing a system where you have to produce some receipts with a system where you get the money without having to produce any receipts, it's completely untransparent. I simply don't think the British public will accept that and so I think we'll have to oppose it."

The Tories had initially thought that they would have to sign up to the prime minister's plan on the grounds that he would portray them as opponents of reform. But when it became clear overnight on Tuesday that the daily allowance was being seen as a new version of the discredited Strasbourg system they realised they could say no.

Government sources indicated tonight that Brown would press ahead with the Commons vote next week even without the support of Cameron and Clegg. The prime minister believes that the Tory proposal would still give MPs an incentive to take out large mortgages. "There is some scepticism about their plans," one source said.