A lot of these northern English towns have big problems with Asian grooming gangs
No they really don't.
Saying that northern English towns have a big problem with Asian grooming gangs is like saying the north has a problem with GPs murdering their patients based on the crimes of one Harold Shipman.
As a Northerner, I can confirm that the vast majority of the Asian population here is law abiding and would find such crimes repulsive. For every town with a grooming scandal there are neighbouring towns (also with high Asian populations) that have no such problems. I used to live near the borough of Rochdale which had a grooming scandal involving one takeaway. It's notable that all the other takeaways in that area (run by Asian business owners) had no such problem. Ditto, taxi drivers working for one particular firm.
What this boils down to is an isolated s***bag becoming friends with and associating with other scumbags, thus forming a gang. Like other criminal gangs. Race should not even get a mention here.
I think that areas with high levels of poverty and deprivation (like the towns where there have been grooming scandals) will also have a lot of kids with nobody to look out for them, in which case the duty to look after them falls to the local council and/or the police. And where do these kids usually hang out? On the streets, outside takeaways.
I believe the race card was played by the police to deflect from their failure to investigate, but I also know (from experience) that GMP was failing to investigate other forms of crime over the same time period. The race card was played by the council because it failed to protect girls under their care, but we know that that particular council (together with the police) has a long history of covering up historic child abuse (Knowl View) which only came to light because it involved a prominent politician. The race card was played by the perps hoping it would serve as a defence. The race card was used by racists seeking to sow division in society. All of them opportunists.
You never hear anyone say, "Oh look, it's another white paedophile ring grooming victims online!" - What does that tell you about most white people who use the internet?
Race has no bearing on these crimes.